Gene Honda Civic

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 12:33 PM) The MLBPA has absolutely no right under the current CBA to reject a contract signed by a player as long as it fulfills the basic requirements of the "uniform player contract." The commissioner can reject a contract for other reasons, but the MLBPA can only reject a contract for a few reasons, one being if a contract contains a salary schedule whereby a player receives 20% less one year than he did the year before, or 30% less than than the two previous years. So for instance, Mark's contract could not pay him $14 million in 08', $14 million in 09' $15 million in 10', and then $8 million in 11'. That contract could be rejected by the MLBPA. Outside of such a reduction from year to year in a multi-year player contract, as long as Mark's contract fulfills the requirements of a basic player agreement, it is a legitimate and valid contract. I don't believe they enforce it like that... Carlos Delgado famously went from $19M in his final season with the Blue Jays to $4M in his first year with the Marlins... But MLBPA wasn't going to stop him from signing a deal which paid him 13M/yr (or more) over the life of the contract. In fact, they're not really going to say anything about any free agent contracts that fail to meet the above requirements. Think AJ Pierzynski... He had to take a 30+% pay cut to come to the Sox. But he had been non-tendered by the Giants and nobody wanted to touch him. Unless the MLBPA wants to guarantee Mark (and his family) the $56M should he get injured (on or off the field) only then can they have a beef with him taking "too little."

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 12:11 PM) Noah missed his fight out of New York (reason #1,546 to trade his ass) so Paxson announced they'll be pushing it back to Monday. How annoying was that guy last night? Or anytime he gets in front of a microphone/camera? He was trying to talk about how marketable he was going to be while not being able to put together a single intelligent sentence. The big winner of the night, which almost goes without saying, was Greg Oden. He was the best of Tim Duncan and Shaq all rolled into one. He had that non-threatening black man thing going on that advertisers love so much, and he had a genuinely great personality. Kid made himself millions of dollars by proving he wasn't a doofus in front of millions of people. Noah will get a local TV spot for some car dealership that makes him dress up and dance around all funny. And that's not even bringing up the different class of player they are on the court.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jun 28, 2007 -> 11:29 PM) Any opinion on the THT article that said Poreda was a sure thing to lose 6 MPH off his fastball or shred his arm? I actually didn't read it, but Gomez has been right on in the past. He was adamant that Lincecum was the best pitcher in last years draft based on the videos, and that looks to be holding true. I know for a fact that he doesn't get what everyone was excited about in Nevin Griffin as well.

After two games, Poreda has pitched 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, walking 1, and striking out 10. He's had a much better start to his pro career than McCulloch did. The two hits he gave up tonight were a HR and a double, with the double coming after an error (Piaml now has 7 on the young season), so one of the runs he allowed was unearned.

58th pick was in attendence.... and he was from Greece.. Boy would he have felt bad when he didn't get drafted.

QUOTE(Linnwood @ Jun 28, 2007 -> 09:49 PM) Wow, that is depressing. It's worse. They'd actually have to win 39 in a row, since I didn't include the current 4 game winning streak, to coast the last 50 games with a .500 record and finish just outside the playoffs.

If they go 35-0, they'll only need to play .500 ball the rest of the way to miss the playoffs by a game.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 28, 2007 -> 05:01 PM) Shouldn't this be the 4th best 2B. He is not listed as a SS on Scout.com - he is listed as the 4th best 2B. who I believe listed Josh Fields and Ryan Sweeney inside the top 20 prospects in all of baseball, and I know they listed Broadway in the top 50. I wouldn't have put Fields in the top 50 to start the year. And Sweeney would have been around the 45-60.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 28, 2007 -> 02:35 PM) Would Gavin Floyd versus Jon Garland comparisons be fair here? It took Jon a while to really get "it". One of the knocks against Jon was his mental make up and his propensity for the big inning early on. Stuff was never a question with Garland, just whether or not he had the stones to be a big time pitcher. Thoughts? Not really. Even when Jon didn't "get it" he was still a league average pitcher at a very young age. Floyd may never be anything more than a league average pitcher when he finally "gets it"

I thought this was a good article though it's mostly about steroids and baseball, this writer seems to "get" the Benoit/WWE situation in general.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 28, 2007 -> 01:46 PM) You guys that think he stinks with the glove - have you actually seen him play or are you going by scouting reports? Just asking - because maybe there is a chance that he improved. I would really like to see this kid play. The day before he was traded, he made three (two were uncredited) errors in the field, from wide throws to first, to drop relay throws, to mental errors such as throwing to the wrong base.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jun 28, 2007 -> 01:22 PM) AJ was an asshole on another team yet he's a peach here, FWIW. The Sox don't shy away from problem children. They thrive in fixing them so I'd take the above opinion as all oponions should be taken. AJ didn't punch Joey Cora before he came here.

QUOTE(striker62704 @ Jun 28, 2007 -> 01:11 PM) I take it he's bad with the glove? RAW

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 28, 2007 -> 12:32 PM) Ya, the guy has some serious tools. I would feel a lot better if two of those tools were the ability to catch the ball and throw it to first base

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 27, 2007 -> 10:32 PM) She didn't. Crash did. Suicidal pill overdose in 2003. Miss Nora Greenwald is still alive and well. What about Sensational Sherry

Pizza! Pizza!! Pizza!!!

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 27, 2007 -> 11:45 AM) Ok, last speculative comment right here. If Buehrle does come on and says he signed an extension then he went behind his agent's back to get a deal done on his own. I think there are talks going on.... Remember back at the winter meetings there was a cryptic quote about one of the starters trying to keep the negotiations out of the media. I believe that is why every quote you've seen from Buehrle and his agent have indicated that there hasn't been any talk. They don't want to be the bad guy if/when a deal doesn't get done. Of course, you could always spin that the other way, and say that buehrle and his agent haven't talked to the Sox, and have no intention of talking to them, with the Sox leaking the mis-information to avoid looking like the bad guy. I'm inclined to believe the former.

GW RBI, which used to be a big one.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Jun 26, 2007 -> 08:25 PM) Game break during the pitching change: Gavin Floyd is pitching a three-hit shutout through seven innings tonight 4 hits, and 1-run.... way to go, Jinx

QUOTE(danman31 @ Jun 26, 2007 -> 01:27 AM) The Sox use Great Falls as their 2nd stop. The Pioneer League (where GF plays) has 8 teams, which I believe 6 are used as the 2nd stop while two are the first. The Appy League (where Bristol plays) has 9 teams, which an article posted somewhere that I can't remember/find said 4 of the 9 are used as the 2nd stop. So the Pioneer League is a slightly higher. The Short Season A leagues are all the 2nd stop while the complex leagues (Arizona and Gulf Coast) are always the first stop. So to summarize: Short Season A Pioneer League Appy League (though small difference) Arizona/Gulf Coast Leagues Yeah, I don't think the talent level is all that much difference, but the average age for position players(as listed by Baseball-reference) is 20.3 for the Appy league and 21.1 for the Pioneer League. For the Sox affiliates, the average age is 19.4 in Bristol and 21.3 in GF

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 26, 2007 -> 05:28 PM) It looks like the Cubs will be paying most of the contract. So essentially the Sox could have dealt Robert Valido for Jones and cash (cause Valido is no different than Abecrombie as far as I'm concerned). Personally I'd have loved to have been the club that made this deal. Abercrombie won't be involved, which I stated in my first post here. It's going to be a move for an A-ball pitcher, somebody who won't need to be put on the 40-man roster.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 26, 2007 -> 05:09 PM) Terrero also has 200 more AB's than Abercrombie. Thats far too small of a sample size. Had the Marlins brought him up better, there is no doubt in my mind that Abercrombie would be a much better player. Abercrombie is more talented, Terrero is probably more skilled. You mean like when they sent Abercrombie, who had been demoted twice before, to A ball as a 25 year old, where he would put up an 87/14 K/BB ratio... Yeah those bastards.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 26, 2007 -> 04:52 PM) Terrero is 27, dumb, and his career .234 BA just blows Abercrombie's out of the water. What have we seen from Terrero that makes him so much better than Abercrombie? Everyone was wowed by his long home run too. I'm not saying Abercrombie is some stud can't-miss guy, I'm just saying he has the tools to become at least a respectable major leaguer. Terrero's better because he's got a better minor league record and controls the strike zone better than Abercrombie. Now Luis' biggest obstacle keeping him from being an average big leaguer is his inability to control the zone, but he's got a respectable 3.5/1 K/BB ratio in the majors to go along with a 4/1 mark in the minors. Abercrombie has a 4.8/1 mark in the majors and a Collaroian 6.5 mark in the minors. Luis' biggest weakness is also Abercrombies, who is far worse.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 26, 2007 -> 04:33 PM) He is better than an A ball scrub, come on now. He was brought up prematurely by the Marlins and that has contributed to a lot of his struggles. He is better than Terrero, has similar, if not greater, power (1st ML HR = 493 feet), he is fast, plays good defense, and can become a respectable major leaguer. How is he better than Terrero? Because he hit a long HR? Terrero at least has some minor league results to fall back on. He OPSed over 900 the IL last year, two years after OPSing over 900 in the PCL... Abercrombie can't match that and has even worse control of the strike zone than the fringy Terrero.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 26, 2007 -> 04:30 PM) no different than an A ball scrub - both are meaningless. It would be no different if it were the Mariners or Yankees getting Abercrombie. None. It is different than an "a ball scrub" -- An A-ball scrub has a chance to turn into a major leaguer. Abercrombie's chance has passed him by. PLUS, abercrombie eats up space on the 40-man roster.