The Sox are jonesing for Alex Rios to hit better, you could say, couldn't you Ryan?

He'll turn it around! He'll be worth the contract! It'll happen! Just wait and see!

He'll turn it around! He'll be worth the contract! It'll happen! Just wait and see!

Your words ring hollow, chump.

Rios will be fine. He broke out of his slump the last two weeks of the season.

As for Walker, fire him, don't fire him. It doesn't matter. If the Sox want to hit better, they need to get better hitters.

He broke out of his slump the last two weeks of the season.

What does it mean to break out of a slump that includes the numbers 199/229/301?

Your words ring hollow, chump.

That's because I'm not very bothered if he sucks while playing for another team.

He broke out of his slump the last two weeks of the season.

211/253/300 split for September/October. I'm sold! That's as good as Brian Anderson for only 30x the price!

211/253/300 split for September/October.

You need to improve your reading comprehension. I said "last two weeks". September/October is four weeks at least.

Sep 19, 2009 to Oct 4, 2009 318/375/500. There is that, if you like to rely on 48 PA sample sizes.

You need to improve your reading comprehension. I said "last two weeks". September/October is four weeks at least.

Rios's last 14 games, he hit .302/.351/.453. If that's what you can expect from him on average going forward, that's great. But if that's what you can expect from him when he's "hot", eh, not so much.

Frankly, all I expect is decent offense combined with above-average defense in center field. Somewhere in the 95-100 OPS+ range would be fine with me. Yes, he'd be overpaid, but so what? It's not my money.

Alex Rios is a fine role-player. He's not a star. If the White Sox are counting on Alex Rios to be a keystone for their 2010 offense, they might as well give up on contending right now.

Is there any particular reason to think that the final two weeks of the season mean more than the previous 22?

Is there any particular reason to think that the final two weeks of the season mean more than the previous 22?

Hope? Terror about the Sox taking on a $60M albatross?

Is there any particular reason to think that the final two weeks of the season mean more than the previous 22?

UNLESS he was playing while injured and the last two weeks were the only weeks he was healthy, or he finally got new contacts...

no.

Is there any particular reason to think that the final two weeks of the season mean more than the previous 22?

No, but it shows that he hasn't completely fallen apart as a player.

He had a terrible slump from early August to mid-September. That's all it is. White Sox fans are making too much of it.

Is there any particular reason to think that the final two weeks of the season mean more than the previous 22?

It wasn't all 22 weeks. His OPS was 794 in mid-June. For comparison sake, he had a 798 OPS last year when his OPS+ was 111. He stunk horribly for the next three months.

Is there any reason to think his three month death spiral mean more than the rest of the last four years of his career?

Is there any reason to think his three month death spiral mean more than the rest of the last four years of his career?

Hope? Terror that your team has just given away a valuable player for absolutely nothing?

If the White Sox are counting on Alex Rios to be a keystone for their 2010 offense, they might as well give up on contending right now.

I agree that the White Sox need to upgrade their offense, but given that they (1) are in the AL Central and (2) have four good to very good starters (Buehrle - Peavy - Danks - Floyd -- is this the most solid 1-4 in baseball?), their offense doesn't need to be great for them to contend. They really need -- in addition to a healthy Quentin -- somebody to hit well in LF, and somebody to hit well at DH (or at 1B, if you want to move Konerko to DH). It doesn't seem to me that you need to break the bank to find good hitters at that end of the defensive spectrum.

In his career, Rios is a ,293/,348/,491 hitter at Rogers Centre.

I'm too lazy to compute his combined line outside Rogers Centre, but its close to ,271/,315,402.

From B-R:

Home: .291/.346/.489
Road: .271/.315/.402

That was a pretty decent job of eyeballing his road stats.

Yeah, I'm not too concerened that playing in Comiskey Park will destroy Rios's offensive value.

There is that, if you like to rely on 48 PA sample sizes.

It's no more ridiculous than you (and other folks) making predictions about Rios' future based on one season's worth of data (half-a-season, actually -- he wasn't that bad in Toronto this year) when the three seasons prior to this one, Rios has close to 2000 PAs of a 115 OPS+.

Quite frankly, the reaction to Rios' 2009 strikes me as very similar to the reaction to Swisher's 2008 (I say that in a 'general' sense -- most Sox fans with any inclination of a saber background felt he was due to bounce back and weren't pleased when he was sold for pennies on the dollar. Wait, did I say pennies? Lint is more like it.). Luckily for Sox fans, even if Rios is more of a 90-95 OPS+ hitter (which is several percentage points behind what most projection systems will have him at), Rios is a well above-average defender while being pretty superb on the basepaths.

when the three seasons prior to this one, Rios has close to 2000 PAs of a 115 OPS+.

Which is part of why I was so furious when the Jays just let Chicago have him for nothing.

One thing which should be noted about Rios - there was a surprisingly comprehensive campaign after his departure from Toronto to depict him as lazy, somewhat stubborn, and completely unwilling to work to further develop his skills or even maintain them (and that he had been so since he got his big contract). It even included negative comments from Jerry Howarth, who (if you follow Toronto radio broadcasts) has always come across as a nice and extremely positive guy.

Whether this means that Rios is actually lazy and unmotivated, or whether this just means that Rogers was very effective in pushing the company line to cover their asses from the PR fallout, it's hard to say.

Which is part of why I was so furious when the Jays just let Chicago have him for nothing.

You can still live out the dream!

No, I really can't. It would just be bad news for everyone involved (and especially me).

No, I really can't. It would just be bad news for everyone involved (and especially me).

I would consider it good news. Stop thinking of only yourself!

I'm thinking of you too. If I have to deal with both your team name, and Rios counting against my cap, I just might snap and hunt you down.

I'm thinking of you too. If I have to deal with both your team name, and Rios counting against my cap, I just might snap and hunt you down.

The Minutemen will protect me. You won't get past Buffalo, al Qanada.

Are you kidding? We've got sympathizers all over Buffalo - between their love for Tim Hortons, Hockey, and the Tragically Hip, they've got more in common with us than you.

The Moneyball movie needs to get made. BBTF just wrote the lines for a great trailer:

He'll turn it around! He'll be worth the contract! It'll happen! Just wait and see!

Your words ring hollow.

Is there any particular reason to think that the final two weeks of the season mean more than the previous 22?

Hope? Terror about the Sox taking on a $60M albatross?

Is there any reason to think his three month death spiral mean more than the rest of the last four years of his career?

Hope? Terror that your team has just given away a valuable player for absolutely nothing?

Moneyball, the real story behind professional baseball's movers and shakers, in theaters April 2012: It's no more ridiculous than you (and other folks) making predictions about Rios' future based on one season's worth of data (half-a-season, actually -- he wasn't that bad in Toronto this year) when the three seasons prior to this one, Rios has close to 2000 PAs of a 115 OPS+.

Catch the fever! Caaaatch it!

Does New Comiskey have some sort of Bermuda triangle in centerfield? They've had some pretty good looking prosects come through their farm system and it seems all of them flop. When veterans are brought in to play the position, they collapse upon arrival. What's going on there?

Are you kidding? We've got sympathizers all over Buffalo - between their love for Tim Hortons, Hockey, and the Tragically Hip, they've got more in common with us than you.

I think this is a good time to mention that my cousin plays guitar in the Tragically Hip. Let's get the Canadians together and talk about our favourite albums and songs. I find it hard to decide other than to say that every live version is better than the studio version.

Are you kidding? We've got sympathizers all over Buffalo - between their love for Tim Hortons, Hockey, and the Tragically Hip, they've got more in common with us than you.

Buffalo: Canadian bridgehead to finish what we started two hundred years ago.

They won't be happy until everyone is spelling words with unnecessary "U"'s.

I think this is a good time to mention that my cousin plays guitar in the Tragically Hip.

By Canadian standards, I think this makes you a celebrity.

I find it hard to decide other than to say that every live version is better than the studio version.

I strongly agree with this statement. The live stuff I've heard either in person or through recordings has been universally excellent.

I think this is a good time to mention that my cousin plays guitar in the Tragically Hip. Let's get the Canadians together and talk about our favourite albums and songs. I find it hard to decide other than to say that every live version is better than the studio version.

I OD'ed on the Hip's rock-ier songs back in the day. Now, I listen to their mellow tracks most of the time: Bobcaygeon, It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken, Scared, Fiddler's Green, Wheat Kings. . .

RE: The Hip live. Seen them five or six times, but not for the last 6 years or so. Is Gord still doing the long, stream of consciousness rants?

Catch the fever! Caaaatch it!

I don't know why, but "Caaaatch it!" is ####### cracking me up.

By Canadian standards, I think this makes you a celebrity.

By Canadian standards, having all of your fingers and toes and/or a seventh grade education makes you a celebrity.

The Hip live. Seen them five or six times, but not for the last 6 years or so. Is Gord still doing the long, stream of consciousness rants?

I don't know anything about the Tragically Hip aside from two or three songs I've heard, but I would have bet ten bucks that they had a guy named "Gord."

I don't know anything about the Tragically Hip aside from two or three songs I've heard, but I would have bet ten bucks that they had a guy named "Gord."

Actually, they have two guys named "Gord."

Let's get the Canadians together and talk about our favourite albums and songs.

Matt Good's Vancouver is great.... oh, you meant Hip albums. I'll probably have to destroy my Canadian passport once I admit this, but my only real exposure to the Hip is the song they had on one of Rick Mercer's shows, and having my older sister force me to leave during their set at a 9/11 benefit concert.

I saw them about a year ago, and Gord (Downey) was as tripped out as ever.

Rios needs a complete attitude adjustment to turn his career around.

Jeff Buckley's Vancouver is great....

By Canadian standards, having all of your fingers and toes. . . makes you a celebrity.

I think teeth are at more of a premium up there, what with all of the hockey pucks flying about. And I'm not so sure about Tim Hortons' baked goods.

It's not that Rios is in some sort of slump alone. It's that his mechanics are a complete disaster.