SoxFan562004

They went through the ST numbers on the Score tonight, and everyone seems to have good numbers. I think it may be more of a comment on attitude. Maybe there's someone in the clubhouse who is not gelling well with Ozzie's new style... or it could be mind games on KW's part.

Dan and Terry should be REAL interesting in Tucson. They are good interviewers and don't lob soft questions. Their interviews at the Superbowl were real good. They said KW is going to be on either Wed. or Thurs. I listen pretty regularly to Dan and Terry, and their attitude towards the Sox this spring isn't as negative as a lot of other media. They basically feel that the Central is such a bad division and the Sox have a legitimate shot at winning it. Also, they think the Sox organization is doing a better job of PR and relating with fans and media this off-season. I'm leaving for Vegas in 4 hours, so I won't be able to hear the next two shows, but if they get The Hawk on somebody please post a report!! Generally the two of them like Harrelson, but were really put off by some comments he made on Mike North's show (Like attacking Billy Beane and saying the whole "you never played baseball so you don't know anything" spiel). They said they would confront him about it, so that should be interesting

I think the Sox are actually doing OK in spring training this year. A lot of the leads have been blown in the fifth inning on, after all the minor leaguers are playing.

I've lost a lot of confidence in Danny Wright. It looks like he'll win the 5th starter competition though. He is always living on the edge and it just makes me nervous as hell when he pitches. Even the awesome game he pitched in Boston (I think it was the 02 season) was nerve racking. I really hope he can prove himself this year.

Yeah, that's what I want to see the Sox do, instead of going into next off-season with 20-30m dollar payroll flexibility I want to see them get a guy who will add payroll burden and hasn't played at 100% in about 4-years! Also, I still believe that Maggs can ask for 15m a year all he wants, but good luck finding a team to pay it. If Sox are going to add any extra payroll in spring training (which I'm not holding my breath for) I would much rather see them sign Urbina or make a run at Benson from Pittsburgh Griffey may have a great year, but I don't want the Sox to be the team to take the gamble, they just don't have the payroll flexibility to take the risk

I think the 11 number is a great guess, especially with less seats this year. If the Sox are in contention they'll probably sell a few of the KC and Twin games with walk-up crowds.

I had a TON of respect for Stone until the playoffs last season. I thought he did a great job of being unbiased and telling the truth about the Cubs and the teams they were playing. However, when he was filling in for Santo last year during the playoff he made a lot of arrogant comments which came off poorly to me. For example; when the Cubs were up 3-1 in game 5 at Florida Hughes said "The Marlins have never lost a play-off series." Then Stone came back with "Well they are going to lose this one." I know he's a Cubs announcer, but with that teams history it's probably not the comment you want to make, espically since the Marlins won the series. He just didn't give the Marlins enough credit in my opinion.

Yeah losing to the Cubs suck, but it will probably be an example of how "closely" Cubs fans watch the team. As people have said the Sox had their B team and Cubs had their A team and they couldn't tie it until Sox brought in a guy who won't make the major league roster. With that said I thought the Sox looked decent today and I actually had a good feeling about them after the game. Konerko and Rowand hit the ball well. Wright made me nervous as usual (I agree with Farmer that unless he is consistent with a change-up he won't be an effective starter). Cotts pitched well. I am getting a little nervous about Harris, I would like to see more out of him, but I love what his speed could bring to this team so I like the fact that they are giving him every chance to do well. Farmer and Rooney seem that they're not sold on Harris. They questioned his plate patience and they talked a little bit about how a 2nd basemen will probably be available near the end of spring training if the Sox were interested.

I agree, I'm usually super busy during the day and often only check soxtalk.com, so I appreciate all the MLB news.

This says it's from Rosenbloom in the Trib, but it seems like it is just Rosenbloom saying it is logical for NY to go after him, not that there are talks going on. And I agree, the Yanks don't have much to give anymore, they don't really have any position players the Sox would want (at least not at the inflated salaries), and their minor league system is thin. If it's true about the hard bargain KW was driving for Maggs with the Dodgers, then I don't see how the Yankees can match that.

This whole steroid/performance enhancing drugs thing is a mess. There's so many different aspects that come into it. I think Selig did exactly what he wanted to do today. He got in front of the cameras, said how much he hates steroids, but the MLPBA is stonewalling on it. He made the union the bad guy, and Fehr's comments only made Selig look better. Another problem with this issue is that 5-7% failed when they basically knew testing was coming. I know some probably took the ones you can't get out of your system for a year, but I'm sure the number that took juice was actually higher since some of them cycled out of it. I don't believe there's a test for Human Growth Hormone, which I personally think is the major problem in MLB, not anabolic steroids. That's why I don't think certain players are lying when they say "I don't take steroids" because they're technically right. It's my guess (I'm by no means a doctor, but a guy who works out and sees what guys at the gym do to themselves) the monster players over the last 5 years, such as Giambi, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire (SP?), etc... were probably using HGH. But, since there's no test it's virtually impossible to prove. I would love to see Congress get involved, but they've been talking about federal regulation of boxing for years and nothing has happened, so I won't hold my breath for them to get involved in baseball. Baseball is probably considered interstate commerce, so Congress should have substantial power in regulating them. This is just a quick 2am guess while trying to recall my Constitutional Law classes from my first year, so I could be missing some nuiances that make that statement completely wrong. But, The House just passed legislation which would prohibit people from suing the fast food industry for making them obese, and it's being debated in the Senate. Now I'm sure this will be challenged on due process grounds or something of that ilk, but it is an example of what Congress attempts to pass in an attempt to regulate certain industries.

I'm suprised the Benard release took this long... Last year the Sox wanted to boycott the steroid tests so they all got reported as fails. This would have pushed the percentage up so testing would have become mandatory in MLB. The union pressured them out of this though. So once Benard's name came up in the BALCO report I figured he wouldn't be long for the team. I think this probably bodes well for Borchard or Reed.... I hope it's Borchard, he's a switch hitter with some pop, and I hope he grabs this opportunity!

Here's the link; http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...4news&fext=.jsp Not much real news there, mostly Shingo saying "I don't know yet" to a lot of questions about his new surroundings There was one question about whether or not he he's practiced martial arts... That seemed like an odd question to ask and to be answered, especially since he has never practiced martial arts. I know he's from Japan, but it's not like martial arts is taught as part of the school system there, but it gave me a good laugh when I read it

Looks like I'll be going to the games on the 23rd (D'Backs) and 24th (Mariners)... I can't wait to get out there! I'll be wearing my home Kelly Wunsch jersey at least one of the days so if I'm spotted please come up and say hello

Didn't he say Wimpy was on the team? Maybe even Paul O'Neil? This may sound silly but I thought it meant that the person's butt was larger than the rest of their body

I'm sure if the Yankees want Sosa the Cubs couldn't dump him fast enough, the problem is I don't think the Yankees have enough to trade for him, the Cubs would need a good bat in return to replace Sosa (I hate him as much as anyone, but he'll still hit at least 35 and drive in 100 this year). Without a DH in he NL it limits what the Cubs can do, and I'm sure they don't want to take a bad contract in return since they will be free of Sammy's contract after '05. But with what a pain in the ass he is (especially with this new BS about his "personal clubhouse attendant") the Cubs just want him out of there. Also, Sammy has a right to refuse a trade. I think his ego would want to be in NY on a winner, but he probably would demand an extension which the Yanks may not want to give

I think MB's and Marte's signings are also a positive in the fact that players want to be here. I know we had their rights for 3 years, but the willingness to sign with club options shows the players don't hate being here and are willing to stay for longer than they have to. This could be an important point in selling free agents on the Sox.... that is if they actually spend the money they are going to be under budget next year

If it is averaging about 7-8m and Vlad is worth 14-15m, then I think 11-12m for Maggs should be his market value

This is a snip of Thom Loverro's column today in the Washington Times. I think it's a great take on the situation "This is not a court of law in which someone is innocent until proved guilty. It is the court of public opinion, which sometimes can be reckless but also can be astute enough to believe what it sees with its own eyes. It saw ballplayers who looked like professional wrestlers and now sees players who look like they spent the winter at Weight Watcher meetings, 24-7." The whole column is a good read, including an interesting opinion on Dusty Baker's comments, here's the link; http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/2004...15915-5586r.htm

Great signing, it locks in a potential closer for the future and at a reasonable price. We may of had his rights for 3 more years, but this prevents the ugliness and uncertainty of arbitration. I also love the option years the Sox are adding, it gives them a lot of flexability.

This story is so old and pointless for me. No doubt she is an awesome softball pitcher, probably the best in the world, but this type of thing comes off as a sideshow to me. If MLB prepared adequately they would be killing her. A great example is when she was on Jimmy Kimmel and trying to strike out the guys on the show... Obviously she had no problem with Jimmy, but Warren Sapp was the Co-host that week and he took some swings against her. What ended up happening was she couldn't strike him out. She tried to gas him upstairs, but Sapp was getting around on them and fouling the balls straight back... Then she tried to trick him by throwing him change-ups, but he adjusted and fouled those off as well. She eventually "walked" him because she couldn't strike him out and time was running out on the show. It was kind of funny because Jimmy was calling her out for trying to throw change-ups when Sapp was expecting fastballs. Mind you Sapp was wearing dress pants, dress shoes, and a dress shirt. He also didn't take any warmup swings, he just stepped in there cold. Finch was getting pretty flustered over not being able to strike him out on live TV, Sapp wasn't about to give in and I think it suprised her a little.

Yeah, revisiting the stats Maggs are far better, but I think Maggs would be a median between Vlad and a Jenkins type player. He's not as valuable as Vlad, but more than Jenkins. I just throw this out here because I think it will have an effect on what Maggs is worth

Report on MLB.com says Geoff Jenkins signed a three year extension with the Brewers.... Looking at his numbers, they're similar to Maggs' (although Maggs are a little better). I feel Jenkins and Maggs are similar players and worth roughly the same on the open market, at least it's a better comparision than Vlad and Tejada. I haven't seen any numbers to the extension so if anybody sees any please post them... Sorry if this is posted elsewhere

It's just good to see the Sox get a little mainstream coverage... This article has a link on ESPN.com mainpage, and this afternoon was the cover story on the ESPN.com MLB page. I think the national media may be interested in the Ozzie storyline if the Sox get off to a decent start

With ticketmaster events that are "hot ticket" items I have tried to go somewhere with a T1 or better internet connection. I go to law school at DePaul now and got Springsteen tickets there fairly easily, and before that I used the computer lab at Elmhurst College where I did my undergrad work. I would suggest registering for a ticketmaster account today, and then the day you want to buy something you're all ready to go with payment and mailing info. The fast internet connection gives you the opportunity to refresh multiple times, and I know I've used 3 computers at a time on days where the computer labs were empty. You look like kind of a goof for a few minutes, but it has gotten me some GREAT seats for popular events. Since Sox don't have a big season ticket base there are usually a decent amount of Cubs tickets for sale, so good luck!