LDF

Shortstop Andy Gonzalez made good use of his winter, hitting .300-1-2 in 50 at-bats in the Puerto Rican League. He got significant playing time considering he just turned 21 what i don't understand is what does his age has to do with his playing time.

i thought that movie had potential to be a funny one. too bad.

oh yeah.

oh forgive me, i really wouldn't want you to burn the mid night oil on such a earth shattering question.

with or without the roids?

well that will make minn a whole harder to beat. but i still like our chances now with a very strong pit rotation.

You're correct, LDF... Ray had no problems vocalizing his displeasure with the Baldwin trade. Ironic he'd later be part of an even worse one. the idea of trading ray in order to get something in return is a bunch of bull. some are really getting distracted by this.

i think he will start off in cf this yr at the majors, and share time with rowand until rowand can take over or f***s up.

phil rogers and BA mention in an article that even tho his stuff is really good, he needs arm strength and stamnia to pit beyond the 50+ pit count. even then they are saying that he might make the majors sometime in 2003 as a middle relief.

lol jas thats only cause kw thought that kenny rogers was a country and western singer.. ya think he learned his lesson from the berry, barry incident???? lol oh you are a tough person to please.

when steff says something about info about the sox, it is best to listen to him. i found him to be on the dime. the trading of ray was not a cost effective idea but something else. if i remember, ray has been vocal about kw. then again, i may be wrong on this one.

I would like to see documented proof of that for the record. Ray's word is good enough for me. I've known Ray for 6 years and Crystal for almost 8 years. I was friends with Crystal before she even met Ray and was dating JB. I'm not going to get into anymore details about who and what I may or may not know.. but a lot of people at WSI and the AOL boards know my facts are facts. Besides, Ray would not lie. i been waiting for you to post, i know you are the one with all the sox info and connections. good to see ya.

Royce Ring= another thought came to me, this kind of an act may be good in college, hs or even maybe in the minors, but do you think it will work in the majors?

but if it did, oh what a firework display that would be.

if kw would have said to all that all he was offered was a life long triple A pit, i am sure the fans would understand. the one part that stills bothers me is there was talk before the actual trade of other teams being interested then it went away. what really happen there or was kw asking for too much? regardless of what we thought or what anyone thought, kw should have folded when a little was offered. ref to sfo being the only team interested, look at the other fa's who hasn't sign. you can't put the blame on the situation that hardly anyone went after him. look you have kenny rogers, puge, and several more fa's who hasn't sign. was or is ray worth what he is earning, that depends on the team who signs him.

if there is something going on, then we can use that 2 or 3 more times and get us what we need to improve this team. that being said, i like you thoughts on the style of out pitching. i am stoke and can't wait. bring us two team, minn and sCrubs.

Witesoxfan, you can never be too optimistic. I love your post. A couple days ago, I woulda pointed you out as one of many pessimists but today I honestly think youre even more optimistic than I am! I think we will win the division but only by 2-3 games. We got much stronger but the Twins did not get weaker. I would love to slaughter the Twins like you are predicting but I think its going to be close and exciting, with the Sox coming out on top... one key point with minn, what is going on with tori hunter?

Royce Ring= He sounds like a combonation of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych and Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabrowski. Can't wait till he gets to Comiskey. perfect discription.

At the time the Durham trade was made, it was widely assumed that sandwich picks for FA's would be eliminated in the new CBA. Durham was doing fine with the Sox last year, but the team was going nowhere. Durham was gone anyway and they needed to check out the kids. If it was assured that the sandwich pick would have still been there, then yes, I'd say it was a bad deal. I think it was a matter of trying to make the best out of a bad situation. If Adkins even makes it to the Sox as a halfway decent long reliever, it's better than the nothing it appeared we were going to get at the time of the trade. it wasn't the fact of not getting anything worth whike, or the comp pick, which i agree with you it was not suppose to be there, what got me was that he got fleeced. he shouldn't have made the trade if he didn't get what he wanted or gotten something better. so what, he would not have anything to show for ray departure, i am sure fans would understand to a certain extent.

some sox prospects were mention but not in detail. Winter League Top 10 Prospects Compiled by Josh Boyd January 16, 2003 In this edition of Prospect Pulse, we wrap up the regular season for the four Caribbean winter leagues by taking a look at the best prospects in each league. The lists are based on discussions with scouts, managers and coaches who worked the leagues this winter, and include only players who have not exceeded the major league rookie standards of 130 at-bats and 50 innings. Dominican League 1. Jose Reyes, ss, Gigantes (Mets) 2. Johan Santana, rhp, Estrellas (Angels) 3. Wilson Betemit, ss, Escogido (Braves) 4. Franklyn German, rhp, Escogido (Tigers) 5. Arnie Munoz, lhp, Aguilas (White Sox) 6. Rafael Soriano, rhp, Escogido (Mariners) 7. Alfredo Gonzalez, rhp, Azucareros (Dodgers) 8. Francis Beltran, rhp, Estrellas (Cubs) 9. Alexis Gomez, of, Aguilas (Royals) 10. Duaner Sanchez, rhp, Gigantes (Pirates) The Dominican League boasted the strongest group of prospects. Upper-level prospects on the cusp of the big leagues–including infielders Jose Reyes and Wilson Betemit, and power-armed relievers Franklyn German, Francis Beltran and Duaner Sanchez–will find their winter ball experience invaluable in spring training. While the Mets signed veteran Rey Sanchez as insurance for Reyes, their 19-year-old prodigy continued to impress in all phases of the game. In addition to exhibiting outstanding shortstop actions, tremendous body control and a plus arm, he led the league in stolen bases (17) and triples (five) and was among the league leaders in extra-base hits (18). "He was the most impressive of the young position players," one scout said of Reyes, who hit .270. "And there were not too many impressive young position players down here." The scout said Reyes just needs to sharpen his stroke from the right side to complete his package. "His lefthanded at-bats were much better," he said. "He can drive the ball lefthanded over the left fielder’s head. After a disappointing 2002 Triple-A campaign, Betemit came to the Dominican with something to prove, and scouts still like what they see. He has moved to third in deference to Rafael Furcal, but Betemit still shows the tools to play short. "He’s getting comfortable with the size of his body," a scout said. "He reminds me of Chipper (Jones) coming up defensively. (Betemit) is a very good offensive player from both sides. He’s more patient in the zone than a lot of young hitters." On the mound, German showcased his usual 96 mph cheddar and devastating splitter combo, but scouts were concerned about his waistline, estimating his weight near 300 pounds. Beltran, Sanchez, Rafael Soriano, Felix Diaz and Jorge Sosa were among the young guns who regularly lit up radar guns with mid-90s readings, but none was more impressive than Angels righthander Johan Santana, who spent 2002 in the low Class A Midwest League. "He stood out because of his age," said Estrellas manager Dave Jauss, whom the Angels entrusted with Santana’s young arm. "You don’t ever find a 19-year-old pitcher down there pitching into December who was at that low of a level." Santana, who had four days off after each outing and finished with 20 strikeouts in 19 innings, topped out at 97 mph and pitched at 94-95 with a good slider. "He doesn’t throw it for strikes consistently yet, but he gets a lot of swings on it and he mixed in a very good changeup," Jauss said. Azucareros righthander Alfredo Gonzalez may have opened some eyes in the Dodgers organization. After spending the year in the bullpen between three levels–Class A Vero Beach, Double-A Jacksonville and Triple-A Las Vegas–Gonzalez moved into the rotation during the winter and showed an improved slider to go with his 93 mph fastball and plus-plus changeup. "His change is like a split, and he’ll double up on it and throw it any time," an NL scout said.

i was reading this article and couple of things struck me. one was the sox interest in kenny rogers, and mont need to cut more payroll. http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/6130306

if he didn't get what he wanted, then fold and keep him. let him walk at the end. its called playing hard-ball.

Diaz is my favorite pitcher in the whitesox system.........J I think we've been over this before. when i think of premier, i do not associate it with diaz, even tho he is good.

Its also the same KW that acquired Damaso Marte, one of the best young left relievers in the majors as well as Edwin Yan. Its also the same KW that acquired D'Angelo Jimenez, our leadoff hitter/2nd/ss of the future that is a very very talented player that is going to do real good things for the Sox. Its also the same guy thats built a tremendous farm system and got us Willie Harris for Chris Singleton. He also got us Felix Diaz, one of the premier pitching prospects in the majors when healthy for KENNY Lofton. Ya..the Durham deal stunk and the Ritchie one stunk (Not as bad as everyone thinks it did though), but hey, I see more nice deals than terrible ones. Of course many also consider the JB deal that netted us Majewski and got rid of Baldwin bad as do most consider the Clayton deal bad. I consider those even deals, and I also consider the Boomer deal an even one. You can't rip that one or the JB one cause we didn't give anyone up that did anything special or really anything at all. The Clayton one I can see as a negative, because of the clubhouse problem, plus KW already admitted it a mistake. Then there is the Osuna deal which was a good deal. Oh ya then there was the awesome Colon deal!!!!!!!!!!! what is your defination of premier, surely you are not saying saying diaz is that. he may be good, but he is not a premier. i know of many who are premier and he is not one of them..

1. i would not consider him a bust, however now that jc is playing good, trade him and lets grow with jw. 2. a stoudmire (phx) is going to be roy and should have been playing for the bulls. 3. if a team is picking #1, none would trade him for anyting. he will make a team exciting and will put fans in the seat.