SI1020

Never used it. What's it like? I don't go to MLB.com anymore. Just here and WSI and not much there anymore either.

remember this quote if josh paul ends up behind the plate of the most important game the sox play this year..if any other team made that trade and left themselves as an only viable back up sandy alomar the GM would have been fired on the spot....we dont even have a catcher on the charlotte roster...there is no one even close to being ready should something happen to olivo..and we dont even know if he is ready..we do know that by the time we can use the shower in the outfield at comiskey sandy will be on the DL...but..it will be fun watching koch throw 98 mph fastballs to tony graffinino Absolutely. The Sox situation at catcher could be a real catastrophe this year. Way too much pressure on Olivo.

I think this list isn't that good. The good one comes from baseball america. I think you're right. This is a funky list. I know some of you guys and gals really know the minors so I was wondering what gives here. Just doesn't look right to me.

Why Borchard so low? Why Olivo so high? It'd be great if he grabs the catching position by the you know what, but based on last year, he's got a ways to go. Why Munoz so low? He could be a big surprise. We have eight guys here which is a decent number when you consider there are 30 teams. Most of ours are below #100 which shows that the experts don't currently think so highly of our farm system. As I look over the list again before I post this I notice that Rauch and Honel aren't rated as high as we have been lead to believe. There's lots of farm system gurus on this site. What do yous ( in Pittsburgh it's yunz ) think about all this?

Section 113....that was a good post...but I gotta ask....do you know who is quoted as saying that first? Because it is a very good quote to live by Actually, I believe this quote, or a very similar form of it, can be attributed to Benjamin Franklin. I am not totally sure of this, though. If I'm thinking right....I believe it is Abraham Lincoln. I did a little research on the internet.... it was actually Mark Twain. Darn! You beat me to it!! Twain is one of my all time favorite Americans.

The percentage of black Americans in MLB has been dropping for quite some time now. Talented black kids are not playing baseball as much anymore and you can see it all the way down to the high school level. They play football and basketball, and those two pro leagues are predominately black. In the meantime the percentage of foreign players continues to rise in MLB, especially those from Latin America. Pretty soon MLB will be about 50/50 American players to foreign players. A similar situation has occurred in the NHL, now about half Canadian, half non Canadian.

All were treated like s*** before they left/will leave? Bingo.

It's been hashed and rehashed about how the Clayton trade messed up Valentin and Crede. I'm glad Clayton is long gone. With Clayton and Ritchie in Bratwurst land it's going to be another loooong year for the Brewers and their fans. I hate errors but l'm still a big fan of Valentin. So I contradict myself I guess. I'll always remember how he mocked Sammeee after he hit that big homer in Wrigley. Jose is all right with me.

Every time I see this topic I'm thinking Mariotti instead of Mariucci. No such luck I guess.

Ventura was probably the best 3bman the Sox ever had. Fisk was probably the best catcher. Buehrle is their best pitcher in at least a decade.With good health and a little luck he could easily be their best left hander since Billy Pierce. Anyone see a pattern here?

He was also caught in some lies years ago when Sports Illustrated did a big story on him.

I don't agree with that. I always thought of him as rather exciting in the field, as in every fly ball is an adventure.

Not a handsome face or a svelte body among any of them, but all are/were pretty damn good pitchers.

I was prepared to be cynical, but Ron Rapaport is a Chicago sports journalist I greatly respect. This appears legit and it it most unfortunate. In today's age no team can afford this kind of bad press so I definitely see the Cubs fixing the problem if not out of the goodness of their hearts, then for the PR value. From the story you can see the hideous poverty that afflicts most of Latin America. No wonder more and more Latin ballplayers make to the Bigs. You can take the worst inner city ghetto in the US and it is far superior to the living conditions in much of Latin America. Plus young kids can play ball all year round if they can get some kind of bats and balls. What an incentive to play ball. I want to think the Cubs situation was not typical but just don't have the facts.

He's not skinny and he's never gonna be. Additionally his motion puts a lot of stress on his arm and shoulder. He has made some adjustments in his pitch selection in recent years, setting up hitters instead of trying to blow everyone away. I say relax. He'll get in good enough shape. With any luck at all, this should be one of the best Sox acquisitions in a long time. Just having Colon on the staff should help every other starter, expecially Buehrle. How'd you like to face those two guys back to back in the same series? Two completely different styles. I've never been a fan of Sox management. But maybe, just maybe someone got the message, the fans are tired and 1917 was a long time ago. I look forward to seeing Colon pitch.

When Eddy's team played Chandler's team in HS, it was pretty even, maybe a slight edge to Eddy. Unfortunately now Chandler is progressing and Eddy is not. He had a powerful one dimensional game that would allow him to dominate in high school, but he definitely could have used a year or two in the NCAA. Unless he dramatically improves we will all be speaking of him in the past tense in a couple of years.

Here you go Mathew. Bettis salary cap information

liked what you said so much I thought I would quote you so I can read it again... Thanks, I appreciate it. I often reread your posts too.

Diaz and Sanders look like sleepers. I would say the same thing about Munoz but folks are starting to notice him. With a little bit of luck, we have some pitching depth in the system. I depend on you guys to keep me up to date on the progress of Sox minor leaguers.

I'm glad to have Colon but I wonder what is going on behind the scenes here. As stated previously by many others the Yanks did not want Colon in Boston. Everything is just so on the up and up where the Montreal franchise is concerned. Baseball fans in Montreal, however many or few of them there are have a right to be bitter. First the previous owner sold them down the river and now bud lite and co are doing more of the same. But hey, that's life. May all of our pitchers stay healthy. We've now got a lot of different pitching styles among our starters to keep the hitters off balance. We've got a shot now, can't wait for spring.

This should answer salary questions

I totally agree, the Bears need 3 real QBs, so why not start with one that has actually been to a Super Bowl and knows how this whole winning concept goes. He weny to the Super Bowl as a friggin wide reciever and played a good game. He ate s*** every time he had a chance to get there as a QB and ate s*** every time he got to the red zone this year, he has been benched repeatedly for a reason and he was caught in a Pittsburgh park wearing women's clothes, as I said before take him, but don't hope to get much better unless you draft a real QB. I tried to warn them but was ignored. He ran two good offensive coodinators out of town. He shook his finger angrily at his coach and cried like a baby when he was benched in a game at TB in 98. I never saw an athlete in any sport that was as coddled and spoiled as Kordell was. You might want to know that Kordell throws a s***ty pass and has never quite got the hang of looking for secondary receivers. In a must win game he is almost always terrible. I posted his stats. Check out his playoff record. Another thing to remember is that Kordell played for a playoff caliber team, and he still couldn't cut it. What's he going to do on the Bears except run for his life? You'll have a lousy inconsistent QB on a lousy team working for a hopeless offensive coordinator. Sounds great to me! Carson Palmer is not a head case like McNown. Leftwich looks great. Get in a position to draft or trade for one of them. If the Bears sign Kordell you'll hear me scream all the way from Pittsburgh.

Kordell's career stats as of 2001 Steelers team stats for 2002 including Kordells

I don't know if I'm supposed to eat crow or not. I have had crow on various occasions in my life and find that it's not too bad if you season it right and wash it down with a good drink or two. I think I said something to the effect go get him but don't over pay. Well Kenny got him and it sure looks like the price wasn't too steep. Now let's hope Mark and Bartolo become a feared one two punch, lead us to the division and beyond. And oh yes SIGN them both to long term contracts. With just a little bit of luck, next year could be all right.

I guess I am so far under everyones radar screen here, so just let me say two things about this subject. First of all I have been living in the grand metropolis of Pgh exclusively since 1985. Second you do NOT want Kordell Stewart. There should be a real good QB available in the draft this year when it's the Bears turn. Get a good young arm and develop him a la Chad Pennington. I don't know who does and doesn't read my posts here. I don't know who thinks I know a little sports or who thinks I'm an idiot, but please listen and repeat after me. Kordell Stewart - NOT!!