Chisoxfn

If Havlat is in good shape and willing to play, you could consider that as good as any of the other offensive signings out there (realistically). He just hasn't proven that he can stay healthy in some time so its hard to actually expect that. But maybe with more talent on board and an entire off-season we'll see him finally put things together.

Danks had a great first. Now its time to hand Lee his 2nd loss of the season!!!

All indications are that Danks will be signing. Afterall, you don't take batting practice in front of all the big wigs in the organization if you aren't pretty high up on the priority list. Between Upchurch and Danks, as well as Beckham we are talking about 3 Top 2 round talents while only have one pick in the top 2 rounds.

Baron Davis and Brand will be leading the Clippers to the playoffs. Or at least thats what I expect to happen.

If the Hawks keep Khaby, that is a collosal mistake. You can't have 12 mill competed to goaltending. I'm assuming he'll use Khaby to get a top 6 forward (or is that too high of an expectation). Afterall, until Khaby is gone they really don't have any other options do they (since they are over the cap)?

70M, good grief. I'd rather give someone like Sundin a ridiculous amount of money over the short term because that contract is less likely to hamper your franchises future.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 11:48 AM) I think some folks would argue that Anderson could benefit from playing full time, to get the at bats. I think if Wise is going to split time with Anderson that you might as well send Anderson down because with Swisher down this is Anderson's first chance in a long time to get extended play at the major league level and see if he has made the adjustments and able to develop into the player everyone once thought he could. Plus, defensively he is so much better than Wise.

Good stuff as usual Greg. I really enjoy these pieces!!!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 10:20 AM) Which, dispite the howls from some fans, they have been. I like the fact that they've kept a close eye on the pitch counts, but at some point its going to become more than that and they will have to either have him skip a start here and there or bring in a sixth starter for a couple times late in the season (its just a reality of one of those things that needs to be done when you have young pitchers). However, before anyone deems Danks an ace he has to continue to develop his workload as well as improve his command and develop the ability to pitch deeper into ball games (too often the 5th inning rolls around and you have to debate whether he can even come out for the 6th). That said, I love how much he's progressed from his rookie season and I really think he's got a bright future.

QUOTE (TCQ @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 11:15 AM) Fld Pct and errors is the most straight foward accepted way of judging the defensive skill of a player, more importantly a middle infielder. The fact is that of all the balls hit to short OC makes more of them become outs. And while gold gloves arent necessarily the highest factor to judge someone by it proves that a large group of people acknowledge that there is no one clearly better than that player. I dont know how there are so many uribe supporters, Uribe does have a better arm ill admit that but i cant remember a time when cabreras arm has severely hindered him, and david eckstein has made a career with a very weak arm. Derek Jeter winning all the gold gloves he has shows just what an absolute joke that award has become. I'll still be excited if a guy from my team gets it and there are many many players who got the award and completely deserved it (including OC last year) but I do think in this instance the newer school defensive statistics are far better methods of judging defense than fielding percentage and errors. I also think nothing beats the good old "eye" when it comes to defense. All it took for me was watching Wise one day in the field to see that he isn't even close to being a solid defensive centerfielder (he gets poor jumps and even worse reads). I don't even consider Quentin much more than an average defensive leftfielder. I'd rate him as worse but he plays left field and is at least average as left fielders go. Yes he has a strong arm, but he gets very poor reads and often times takes ridiculously questionable routes to the ball. However, the athletism is there and he doesn't have a ton of experience in left field so I do hope that with time he can turn into an above average defensive player who is capable of playing RF (where he'll likely play next year).

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 10:09 AM) I think Danks wearing down also had to do with the scouting reports getting out on him, and he couldn't fool anybody with his 3 pitches anymore. Now he has 4 and there's a big, big difference in the type of pitcher he is. Was his ERA under 3 at the beginning of July last year? I don't recall him even being close. He broke down even earlier last season, but if you look at his minor league inning totals you can see that he hasn't even come close to throwing the amount of innings that it takes to pitch in a complete major league season and the White Sox need to be aware and careful because if you push him too far past his prior year inning totals you take a major chance at ruining a promising arm (and this is statistically proven).

The one issue is that if you are Freddy would you rather go to a team like the Yanks/Tigers/Red Sox who could possibly guarantee or semi-guarantee you a spot in the rotation or the Sox. There is the comfort he'd have in Chicago and they can obviously sign him to a deal which includes an option for next year (where they essentially say if he does well they'll consider clearing a spot in the rotation for him) but I'm also guessing Freddy wants to pitch. I expect Contreras moved this off-season and I dont' think the Sox are going to be replacing him with an in-house candidate, so it could end up being another young guy they trade for, Freddy Garcia, a random FA signing, or Jon Garland (who I think they'll consider resigning depending on what they do).

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 10:03 AM) I sort of disagree with you (although I see your point). I think it's fairly clear this team is a better all-around team without both Thome AND Konerko in there. Should Kenny be able to get a piece for the major league team AND some minor league pitching, I think he would be willing to consider it. Maybe something like Crisp and Justin Masterson? Obviously this is blind speculation, and I am just having fun with this, but if it were me, I would consider it. Any way you can get a decent piece for Konerko or Thome, considering Paul's 10 and 5 rights, and Thome's DH status, I think you consider it. Do you really think the Red Sox would give that up for Konerko, given his current production. If Masterson is involved in a deal you'd have to listen because he's got a hell of an arm (and IIRC is a guy Kenny targeted last year in the rumored Buehrle/Dye trades). However, it is very rare that two contending teams make a trade with each other in July (one of the last ones I can think of was when the Mets & Twins made a deadline deal involving Matt Lawton).

I think the Sox are interested, but they passed on signing him prior to the try-out. My guess is they are still waiting to see what Esteban can do but at the end of the day they are going to have to get an insurance policy in case one of Floyd/Danks/Contreras wear down (or someone gets hurt). Floyd and Count have both thrown innings so less concern there about not being able to handle the workload and more about them tiring or being less effective as the season goes on. Danks has not thrown a ton of innings in any one season and he'll hit career highs this year so the Sox are going to have to be careful and try to ease his workload as the season goes on (remember how he wore down last year).

Considering the Sox have Fields, albeit he's struggled mightily down in the minors (DL) I Don't see any reason to trade for a back-up third baseman. Regardless of the performance from Josh this season, if Joe goes down Crede is coming up (or the Sox are going to trade for someone else that is legit). The one thing that sucks is Fields trade value has got to be a lot lower than it was at spring training (when I was clammoring to deal his over-rated self). I really hope Josh can prove me wrong though. In regards to proving me wrong, want to tip my cap to Jim Thome for a hell of a June.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 09:45 AM) Isn't Paulie technically supposed to be the captain? Both are pretty much de facto equal faces of the franchise, IMO. Given's Paulie's status in the organization and with the fans, it's pretty much inconceivable that he'd be dealt (especially to an AL contender) while the Sox are in first place. Even if he's injured and hitting like crap, that would be a massively bad PR move. I agree, there is absolutely no way that the Sox are going to cut a deal with a team contending for the World Series with them unless they felt they were completely robbing the Red Sox (and Epstein isn't some idiot). Which is why I found the entire report regarding the Sox as being pure fluff coming from ESPN.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 09:41 AM) Just on that, do people consider Konerko to be the face of the franchise, or Buehrle? Because I'd be inclined to go with Mark myself, but that's JMHO. And some of that I'm basing on how everyone stated last season at this point how important it was to re-sign Mark Buehrle. And I mean re-signing Konerko when he was a FA after 2005 was important too. But there wasn't the same uproar IIRC, if he was going to leave for say Baltimore or Anaheim. This season I consider Dye and Quentin the faces of the franchise

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 09:38 AM) I'd rather keep Uribe as an insurance policy, in case O-Cab or Alexei were to go down. Assuming he's healthy, Fields would be the guy to replace Crede if his back acted up again. I don't see Ozuna as an every-day 3B. That said, I can understand why one might want Ozuna's bat and base-stealing over Uribe's offensive "skills." The decision between BA and Wise is an interesting one. I'd favor BA as a 4th outfielder because of his glove, although he could use more at-bats in the minors. His swing still looks awful at times. If it were up to me, I'd do what I could to keep Uribe and Ozuna around and remove Wise to make room for Paulie when he returns. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Loaiza is able to return. I would assume that Russell goes back down, but who knows. Getting back to the Uribe-to-the-Orioles scenario, I think that it would literally take a deal involving Brian Roberts to make it worthwhile. Uribe won't get Kenny anything of value in return, so the Sox have pretty much zero incentive to deal him. There is no guaratnee that Loaiza will return, but if he does he would clearly be replacing Russell (unless someone else got hurt). He still has to get his velocity increased, although I have heard that he's improved a bit over his past couple appearances (although the numbers wouldn't necessarily indicate such).

I just want to point out that the Rangers played much better hockey with Avery than without him.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 09:11 AM) He's certainly the best on the team right now. Not sure about the minors, but no middle infielders down there that come to mind are better either. Trust me, there isn't a middle infielder in the Sox system right now who even possesses the tools to do what Juan or OC can do defensively. Maybe someone will develop those tools, but as of now, no one could touch Juan (unless someone is saying OC is better and I can respect that as OC does make more routine plays and is obviously a very well respected defensive SS).

QUOTE (TCQ @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 09:10 AM) Plz tell me you dont mean Uribe is the best defensive infielder in the organization. Out of curiosity whose better? Uribe is probably a notch above OC who would be his only real competition (as SS is the hardest of the three infield positions to play).

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 08:58 AM) Why in the heck would the Sox deal the face of their franchise to a competitive team when they're in first place? That doesn't make any sense. Neither does dealing the best defensive infielder in the organization for an A-baller or fringe prospect when, again, the Sox are in first place. This isn't exactly the time to be throwing away a good insurance policy for a fringe minor-leaguer. I still say if I were making the move Anderson would be down in the minors. However, if chosing between Ozuna and Uribe, I go with Ozuna as he can provide something off the bench that our regular players can't provide. Uribe doesn't really do that as we won't see him come into the games as a defensive replacement at any of the three key infield positions (not that he isn't good, its just that the guys the Sox have there are very very good as is). I also am not a big Wise fan, although he's made some solid plays in his short time up with the Sox.

Per a buddy of mine whose basically the NHL version of me (ie, incredibly obsessed), Sean Avery may bringing his act to Chicago. If they get him, I for one say hell ya, the guy brings in an attitude I think this franchise has lacked for years. Searching the Net and I guess its ESPN Insider which is reporting Hawks offered Avery 4yrs 16M.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 09:27 AM) Ok, I only had his line to work with and I saw the 4 runs given up but 10 k's, given how he's struggled his last couple outings especially after defensive flubs I was hoping he'd have a better looking game. He was throwing his big yacker to get guys swing and than also throwing his tighter curve that finishes in the bottom of the zone and can be called a strike. It was down right dominant.