Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 11:13 AM) Just got back from there actually. Honestly, there's very little around the main casinos that I'd say is geared for Children. Circus Circus is supposed to have a decent amount of stuff that might be enjoyable, but out of the hotels that's probably it. The Strat has a few rides at the top of the tower, not sure on the height requirements. Some of the shows might work out well, not exactly sure what your family would be considered "in to". Go catch the Star Trek Experience before it goes away at the end of August. Here's a good forum with a list of family-oriented suggestions. I saw that Star Trek thing when it first opened and I'm not going to lie, it was pretty damn cool (and I wasn't a star trek fan, although I have seen all the movies once).

QUOTE (mreye @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 11:08 AM) Timeshare presentation? Say it ain't so, Buffalo!! See the Bellagio fountains Go to the Grand Canyon (Maybe a helicopter ride) Hoover Dam Red Rock Canyon Check out this forum. (Just ignore the people that flame you for taking kids to Vegas) Circus Circus and MGM have amusement parks (Circus Circus also has a circus type show). Bellagio fountains are cool. Treasure Island Pirate show as well (although I don't know if the show is now "adult themed". Caesars Palace has the gladiator type of show that people like in the forum shops.

Nice, Cox Cable owns part of the channel so I'm sure I'll be getting the MLB Channel right at launch (and probably in HD).

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 01:02 PM) It is pretty discouraging that this is a RB that Detroit gave up on.He isnt good enough for them but he will be for us? He was cut because he was due a decent size contract and there were concerns as to his effectiveness coming back from the injury. He actually received a multi-year offer from at least one team and turned it down because of his preference to sign a one year deal with the Bears (he also considered Pitt, but Chicago was his top choice). Jones has flashed signs of promise but never really broke through and it was more to do with a poor offensive line, offense, and injuries as opposed to a lack of talent. There is no way of knowing just how healthy he'll be to start the season and what he's lost between his two leg injuries but he has been a starter in the past and is still young so it should be a nice guy to have on the roster to go with Forte.

Kalapse and NS, who are the two guys you are talking about? I'm guessing one is Moose, but who is the other. On a sidenote, I still believe for guys throwing in this generation, 250 may be the new 300 or something close to that. Moose may just miss out on that though because he hasn't had any dominate post-season runs or anything like that. Mark clearly would have to have a run of 18-20 game seasons or at least a few post-season runs, imo. However, I think he has a chance, which in itself says at least something about his career. Albeit, its a slim chance because its hard to project how he'll throw for the next 9-10 years.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 09:57 AM) Big change from a year ago. The 2007 draft, the 2008 draft, plus the latin market acquisitions of Silverio and Escobar, have changed the SS situation in the system from awful to talent-crowded. Definitely a good problem to have. It should be noted, once upon a time ago (really not that long ago), the Sox had Tim Hummel/Ruddy Yan/Andy Gonzalez/Robert Valido/Pedro Lopez. Now I know none of them screamed all star potential but at one point people thought highly of these individuals for various reasons. Yan was ridiculously fast and had the slap hitting ability of say a Luis Castillo (or at least that was his upside) Hummel projected to be a Mark Grudz type of offensive 2Bman (not great defense, but raked for a large stint of his minor league career and was eventually traded to Cinncy) Gonzalez was once ridiculously hyped. Great defensive tools, good raw power Valido very hyped and had great defensive talents Lopez was slick fielding and actually hit decently in the minors (despite not projecting to be a great hitter) and had a nice skill-set.

I should point out, odds are you are exactly correct with your assumptions. However, Silverio could change things with a strong short-season and impressive performances in winter league.

If Buehrle goes another 9 full seasons posting similar numbers you are talking about a guy that will be a borderline 250 game winner. I think 250 is the new benchmark to get into the hall, thus he has a chance. However, his past two seasons have definitely hurt him (2 years ago he sucked, last year he got royally screwed in the wins department).

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 10:33 AM) Well, since obviously I don't make the decisions on these players, I'll also add my prediction of what the Sox are likely to do... I think you'll see Miranda starting at 2B in W-S next year, across from Beckham at SS. Paiml will start at B-Ham. As the year goes on, Beckham moves to B-Ham, Escobar to W-S, with Silverio to Kanny (having started at GF). V-Merc will be the 2B in Charlotte, with Getz and Richar gone to wherever. Paiml may also move to 2B, and stay in B-Ham, when Beckham arrives. Depending on how Silverio progresses, I think you'll see him start the year at Kanny. That is because the Sox are likely to fast track him and having him in Kanny means he gets a full year of experience as opposed to a short season of experience. This of course depends heavily on how he does now and how he handles summer league play (I'm sure he'll be playing somewhere). This of course means you'll have Escobar/Beckham in tough spots. Escobar is clearly pretty highly thought of as is Beckham (most highly touted). Beckham probably starts the year in Winston Salem which means if Silverio is playing in Kanny Escobar is without a spot (however, I think they'll juggle Silverio in a sense and have him play some 3B which is where some project he'll eventually end up). So essentially I think Silverio and Escobar will both be in Kanny to open the year with Escobar going up to Winston Salem if all goes well upon Beckham's promotion to Bham.

Fantatstic news. I can't be happier about the Bears finally getting someone signed. He's had injury concerns but should be a nice guy to have around to ensure that the Bears are able to ease Forte into his career. He is obviously returning very quickly from an ACL injury so I think our expectations should be to hope he is able to play in one preseason game and can work his way up to being a 10-15 carry a guy for the Bears by about the 3rd week of the season (which is just perfect cause that should help shelter Forte enough to prevent him from hitting some sort of rookie wall by week 12).

Jim Thome will clearly make the hall of fame, but aside from that the Sox probably don't have another hall of famer on the roster (currently). Mark Buehrle would be a guy that if he stays healthy and does what he's been doing for another 5 to 6 years you clearly would have to put him in consideration. He's never been dominant but given this era of baseball he may finish with more wins than almost anyone to play during the same period/era as him.

Paiml isn't a prospect either.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 06:52 AM) For anyone in NY, I've had John's and Patsy's thin slice pizza, and I thought both were amazing. Pizza is so much better over here than what you get in Australia. You must try Lombardi's in New York. Absolutely the greatest Pizza I've ever had!!!!

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 08:36 AM) I think I am going to go to Giordano's here for the Deep Dish Pizza, seems to be well rated by mostly everyone, even if it isn't the favourite. Is there 1 in the Loop which is better than the others, the one on South Wabash is probably the closest for me. Depending on when you go, I'm sure I'm gonna do some pizza at one point or another.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 06:17 AM) What's interesting to me is, they moved Escobar up to Kanny, and had previously moved Miranda back down to Kanny. Miranda has been playing a little SS, but mostly 2B, 3B and DH, while Escobar is at short. I am not sure if that means that the org is higher on Escobar than Miranda, or if they just think Miranda needs to focus on hitting. I am really interested to see what the various SS's in the system do as the year goes on, and where they start next year. Beckham, Escobar, Silverio, Miranda, Paiml... I wonder if they will all still even be in the org next year. The org is much much higher on Escobar than they are on Miranda. Miranda is an organizational player, imo.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 14, 2008 -> 09:48 PM) I was kind of going from memory on that one (it wasn't really a main point to my argument), I remember reading an article some time in early June on how much improved Daniel Cabrera's control had been this season. And looking at his gamelogs right now it appears during the first 2 months of the season he was keeping his walks to a minimum (for him at least); sporting a 3.35 BB/9 over his first 13 starts. That wildness is definitely back though since then he's walked 25 batters over 43 IP which is a BB/9 of 5.25. Yep, he's been on the decline and I thought I had read somewhere a while back that the O's had become frustrated with him and were getting to the point that they would start to consider dealing him. Bottom line you can only sell your fans on hype/potential for so long. A change of scenery could be exactly what the doctor ordered as its one of those things that gives Cabrera a fresh mindset.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 14, 2008 -> 09:36 PM) I haven't seen major progress yet. His ERA has improved by over a point thus far, but there hasn't been anything drastic that has changed amongst any of his peripherals. He could end the year with an ERA below 5, but I would bet a good amount of money that it's closer to 5 than it is to 4. Mediocre K/9, BB/9, H/9, his GO/AO isn't anything special at 1.65 (opposed to 1.56 last season), HR/9 has stayed about the same...I'd suggest he's been lucky to have his ERA where it is rather than a pitcher progressing. Splitting hairs aside, I agree with you - the Orioles have no reason to give him up whatsoever. If they were flat out sick of him, I could understand it, but he has put up a good ERA this year (whether it sticks remains to be seen). The Sox really shouldn't have much interest in him outside of the phone call in to see what they're looking for. Depends on the Orioles timeline. I'd say the smartest thing the O's could do is put together enough guys that will be able to develop and grow with the franchise when the Wieters and company are ready for the show. Cabrera will be a free agent and walking prior to the O's truly being ready to take the next step (just my 2 cents and based on his production I highly doubt he's the type of guy the O's would want to invest in). I think a change of scenery would be well suited, assuming the O's could get what they'd consider a couple valuable pieces. Again, they have no reason to be forced into any deal so they would have to get guys that they liked and would believe would turn into starters on there squad for the next 4-6 years.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 14, 2008 -> 08:53 PM) When you run through Joe Crede's negatives do you list "pops out to SS/2B in 50% of his ABs"? Because I'd seriously like to know what the difference is between a strikeout and a lazy popout to a middle infielder. The concept is that putting a ball in play gives you a better chance at getting a hit than not putting a ball in play. By the way, Adam Dunn is a far superior player than Joe Crede.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 07:04 AM) who plays center then? bay? i wouldnt mind going after dejesus....he seems like hed be a solid fit for this team, but i dont see us benching pauly or really making him a part time player...at least not at 12 mil a year That right there is what everyone is going to have to realize. Unless the Sox lose a starting position player to injury you will not see them make a significant upgrade to the starting lineup (maybe a bench player, but thats it). The only exception is if they move one of there position players in a trade for a starting pitcher and than have a roster spot.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 06:57 AM) I actually think if you went out and signed Garcia if he was healthy, the Sox should target an upgrade at an OF (Jason Bay?) spot possibly (but then what do you do with Konerko I guess, because Swisher would most likely move to 1B). But that's the thing where the Sox are at right now. They don't DESPERATELY need anything. The rotation for the most part has been good (except for Vaz and JC in the last month), the bullpen has been excellent (but has faltered a little lately), while the offense is beginning to heat up. Right now, I think standing pat as we did in 2005, is very well what we could end up doing, or just making a minor move to improve a bench spot maybe. The only legitimate way you can upgrade the outfield is if the Sox move Konerko or someone goes down with a season ending injury. The Sox aren't going to acquire someone and not have any idea whether they can move Paulie (and thus be stuck eating the remainder of his contract). Plus I still reiterate that its far too early to write Konerko off. He's just came back on the DL and is finally healthy for the first time this season. His bat speed looks better and we'll see him get things straightened out. Thats not to say the Sox don't consider trading at least one of Paulie/Thome in the off-season (Thome's option will exercise) and as of now I'd be a proponent of moving Paulie (I'm a big believer of getting some payroll relief this off-season as it will give the club the finances to target a couple good young players that they could trade for and extend).

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 02:50 AM) How does that statement support Beane's move? "It was a solid package"??? Whether the Cubs were deep enough or not to make the trade has nothing to do with what Beane got back, at least in the context you put it in. Again, Sean Gallagher is far better than most people on here realize. The guy will win more games over the next 5 years than Harden and Chacin will.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 02:36 AM) I don't know why you all think we'd move Fields.... Because the Sox upper management isn't near as high on Fields as many think.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 07:31 AM) Problem is, he may be looking for a major league contract. He may only sign with a team that will not send him down. That is a commitment, and one I pesonally wouldn't make with Freddy at this point. There is no way he's going to make his debut at the major league level. He'd obviously be signing a major league deal, but he'd be getting numerous rehab stints at the minor league level and you can use those stints as part of the evaluation process. If he doesn't meet your standards, have a deal with Freddy that you release him before August 31st, so that he has time to sign on with another team and potentially make there post season roster (usually you wouldn't do this, but the Sox and Garcia have a good working relationship and it would be the right thing to do).

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 07:11 AM) Its not soo much the money,its the commitment.He will never be the Garcia from 05' again and I dont want to see him in the rotation.We dodged the bullet once already with him, lets not get in front of the gun again. He'd have to first prove himself in AAA. If he doesn't hit the right velocity and show good stuff in AAA you don't even bring him to the majors.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 06:38 AM) He's throwing 84-87 mph, according to his agent. In agent talk, that means he threw 87 mph once on a fast gun, and he's in the 82-85 mph range. Considering he's yet to really throw off a mound or make starts, if he's hitting 87 on occasion it wouldn't be a bad sign. There is no reason you can't see him adding another 2-5MPH on his fastball from that point as he continues to regain the strength in his arm.