***AJ Pierzynski Appreciation Thread***

[Tragg]

It is curious that they couldn't match a 1 year 7.5 mill offer. His bat alone is worth a lot of that to a team needed LH hitters, like us.

[TaylorStSox]

Originally Posted by Tragg

It is curious that they couldn't match a 1 year 7.5 mill offer. His bat alone is worth a lot of that to a team needed LH hitters, like us.

It's not about the money. They don't want him. I don't know what's so hard to understand.

[PennStater98r]

Going to miss you A.J. You're my favorite White Sox to wear the uniform, and I believe you're one of the smartest baseball people in the game. I can't wait to see you managing your own team at the major league level someday.

[QueerGirrl]

Just because.................



I'll miss you AJ, and you'll always be a White Sox to me. Good luck and hopefully you'll snag another ring before you're done.

[Paulwny]

Thanks AJ for some memorable and entertaining moments.
Good Luck

[JB98]

Yeah, I'm also surprised the Sox weren't willing to match the one-year contract A.J. got from the Rangers.

Looking at the big picture, Konerko has one year left on his deal. Dunn and Rios have two years left. They just gave Peavy another two years. The club is pretty much in a position where they have no choice but to keep the band together and try again with this veteran core. Why wouldn't you keep A.J. in the mix to give yourself a better chance to win in the short run?

No way I would have given Pierzynski a three-year deal. That would have been crazy. But, nobody in baseball offered A.J. that huge contract he was looking for, so it's a little baffling the contract he received was somehow out of the Sox range.

Too bad. Rick Hahn better be right about Tyler Flowers. I'm not a believer personally.

[TheVulture]

Love AJ obviously.

I think we are going to see a replay of the Rowand trade, where we see just how difficult it can be to replace "major league average". Hope I'm wrong.

[Lip Man 1]

For what it's worth (and remember you have to consider the source) yesterday on Chicago Tribune Live! Kaplan was saying that he was being told that Robin was questioning A.J. last year on his pitch selection and why he was calling certain things at certain times.

He then went on to talk about how catchers who have some defensive issues want to call nothing but fastballs.

Bob Foltman then mentioned that was the reason Olivo was shipped out, that all he wanted was fastballs to have a better chance to throw out basestealers.

Again I have no idea how accurate this is, but if it is, that could explain some things.

Lip

[JB98]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

For what it's worth (and remember you have to consider the source) yesterday on Chicago Tribune Live! Kaplan was saying that he was being told that Robin was questioning A.J. last year on his pitch selection and why he was calling certain things at certain times.

He then went on to talk about how catchers who have some defensive issues want to call nothing but fastballs.

Bob Foltman then mentioned that was the reason Olivo was shipped out, that all he wanted was fastballs to have a better chance to throw out basestealers.

Again I have no idea how accurate this is, but if it is, that could explain some things.

Lip

I don't buy it. I thought Sox pitchers threw too many breaking balls last year, especially at the end of the season when arms were tired and fastball velocity had dipped.

The pitchers would get ahead in the count, then throw a bunch of offspeed crap with the hope the hitter would chase and get himself out. It didn't work, and that's one reason we saw such a spike in walks coming down the stretch.

I do suspect the Sox decided to move on from A.J. for some reason we don't know about. His pitch selection might have been an issue, but I don't think it was because the Sox threw too many fastballs to prevent basestealers from running. If anything, I wanted our pitchers to trust their fastballs more.

It was absurd how many times we got our brains beat in by Delmon Young on 0-2 and 1-2 breaking balls. He read the scouting report. He knew it was coming.

[TheVulture]

Originally Posted by LoveYourSuit

Buehrle's contract would not have been intelligent.

We would have been in the playoffs last year with Buehrle on the staff.

[Lip Man 1]

JB:

Again they didn't specifically mention fastballs, in fact, an example Kaplan used was Robin supposedly questioning A.J. on why he called a change up on an 0-2 pitch.

That being said I do think there was something going on behind the scenes with A.J. I do know that one high level member of the front office lost "all respect" for him (direct quote) after the incident in Minnesota when Young threw that forearm to A.J.'s face and he simply turned and walked away.

Lip

[TaylorStSox]

There were definitely issues with AJ not calling for balls in the dirt when pitchers were ahead. I was pretty vocal about preferring Flowers' pitch selection. Also of note, 3 of the 4 best pitchers the Sox had during AJs tenure elected to throw to the back up catcher.

[Steelrod]

Will miss you, but will you miss us more? CWS fans took a liking to you. Your were never welcome at your other stops.
That being said, best of luck in the other 155 games you don't play us!

[Frater Perdurabo]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

For what it's worth (and remember you have to consider the source) yesterday on Chicago Tribune Live! Kaplan was saying that he was being told that Robin was questioning A.J. last year on his pitch selection and why he was calling certain things at certain times.

He then went on to talk about how catchers who have some defensive issues want to call nothing but fastballs.

Bob Foltman then mentioned that was the reason Olivo was shipped out, that all he wanted was fastballs to have a better chance to throw out basestealers.

Again I have no idea how accurate this is, but if it is, that could explain some things.

Lip

I would be curious to see a comparison of AJ's and Flowers' respective catcher's ERAs and Walks and Hits per Innings Caught (WHIC?) for 2012. It seems that would be a valid and important comparison, but I have no idea where to find it.

[TaylorStSox]

Originally Posted by Frater Perdurabo

I would be curious to see a comparison of AJ's and Flowers' respective catcher's ERAs and Walks and Hits per Innings Caught (WHIC?) for 2012. It seems that would be a valid and important comparison, but I have no idea where to find it.

Catcher ERA is an awful stat. I was curious too and looked into it. There are just too many variables.