Chisoxfn

BADABING

QUOTE (Cali @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 10:12 PM) Sonava b**** Gage, you were there? Should have texted you! s***, I didn't realize you were there either. I thought you were going to Thursday's game for some reason.

Awesome job Mark and what way to do it, in the midst of 8 tremendous innings (I was shocked he didn't go all 9 given his miniscule pitch count).

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 10:11 AM) That is, again, going to be the downfall of the team. Can you imagine that roster with the international teams packed inside the lane ready to take a charge(flop) at any moment? Not pretty. Rip Hamilton would have been a much better choice than Prince. One of the players who would have been a surprisingly good fit would have been Ben Gordon (although I assume he's playing for the UK squad). Gordon is a guy I rip on, but with the remaining players you could really utilize his outside game to a plus (he should get tons of open looks with the Lebron's/Pauls/Howards/etc on the court and could be key). Wow, did I really suggest Ben Gordon on the US Olympic team (given my constant ripping of him throughout his career).

Djovick upset by Safin. I don't think anyone saw that coming. Heck, Safin's post match interview was great, they asked him what he thought of the remaining draw and he said to be honest, I saw I played Dojavick in the 2nd round and didn't look past that.

I find it odd that he loses his badge in Arizona because of this. He didn't do anything "wrong". I guess it wasn't good PR, but he at least keeps it in Miami. Definately a dumb thing for shaq to do, but he's a jokester and when you joke as much as he does your bound to ocassionally have some that blow up in your face.

Well, this explains it. I just made a post in the winner thread asking what happened cause he took BP with the regulars and was warming up before the game and than all of a sudden I saw Pablo out there and start (Crede was initially announced the starter in the lineup too). I'm guessing it was precautionary though cause he was stroking it during BP.

That was about as enjoyable game as you can see in person. Buerhle was superb and the offense came up clutch late in the game (after failing to knock the Dodgers out early in the game). Lowe did pitch very well though and for the most part the Sox had a solid approach at the plate. Again, Buehrle was spectacular. I was just comfortable the entire game. Dye crushed that ball. One significant thing to note, I was watching BP and noticed BA was working specifically on going CF/RF and only pulled about 3 of the 20 or so BP hits he had. I thought that was nice to see (he was hitting it pretty solid as well). Pablo was just crushing liners and is really looking like his old self offensively (which is pretty valuable because Pablo for the first two years with the Sox was one hell of an average hitter). Random sidenote, what happened with Crede? He was warming up as if he was going to start and than towards the very end Pablo was out there (was it an injury or was he never supposed to start?).

I think the big thing is that Beasley is much more of a sure thing than Rose. When it comes to PG's, there are some questions as to just the type of court vision and ability they'll have at driving and creating because it really takes a unique skill-set to do such. No doubt Rose has a great skill-set, but I'm afraid that had it not been for his post-season run where Beasley was out early (his team wasn't near as good) this wouldn't even be a debate. Beasley is just such a phenomenal scorer.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 12:58 PM) My question is... how would you let a team/scout know that you'd be an easy sign? This is where you have to have good relations with a scout of an organization. It happened to be where we played there was an area scout who worked for the Braves (former Giants player) and because of it there were a few guys drafted into the Braves organization (as well as a few undrafted signings). So the opportunity is obviously greater in an area where there is significant major league talent (as it means you'll get familiar with some of the scouts who you'll have brief conversations with). In our case, the scout happened to attend some non-high school games (more the summer league type of games where you'd be on a traveling team). But based on those relationships you may tell the scout or indicate to him your desire to play at the professional level and given a good rappore something might happen.

I rephrase that, his production has completely un-hinged in the past month (which was the last time I checked his numbers). So with that, I no longer think he'll be top 50, but he's still a legit 35-40 HR prospect and those type of guys are rare (they also have a harder time fitting in because offense is the only way to crack through a lineup since he really can't play anywhere other than 1st defensively; maybe LF, but thats about it).

Holy cripes, that would be amazing. But what is this ifake.net, I assume it is a legit hockey/news org.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 12:28 PM) Agreed but, injury or not, "for a couple of weeks" doesn't really make him an "ML producer." Quentin didn't really "produce" at the ML level until this year. Too bad that the D-back gave up on him so quickly. But good for us. Everyone knew Quentin had a skill-set, but if people were trading for him based on the fact that he was an ML producer it would have cost a lot more than Carter (albeit Carter was a fair price and is a very good prospect who will likely be a top 50 prospect next season). The reality is Quentin had shown flashes and the risks a team took acquiring him was whether he could stay healthy and if in fact it was his health that had limited his production (and not the fact that he had a hole in his swing that made him a AAAA player). Everyone here was pretty excited with the deal because we knew we were getting a guy with massive "talent". I still can't call him a consistent run producer, he's had a great start and he's capable of doing what he's doing for a long time, but he's still got to build his resume.

QUOTE (the People's Champ @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 12:46 PM) Show me where it is guaranteed that Carter is going to become a stud in the majors. Where was it guaranteed that Quentin was going to turn into a stud at the major league level?

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 09:59 AM) Even if you are the best player on your college team, you would be extremely lucky to get half of a scholarship. The baseball scholarship world is a very odd place. Plus, I've mentioned this before, but you don't necessarily have to be that good to get drafted in the latter rounds. At that point organizations may be looking for sure fire signings to fill organizational depth needs and if you indicate a willingness to play in the minors and have some contacts they'll take you. I had a few people I played baseball with get drafted for those exact reasons and they were not in any way shape or form what I'd consider minor league "talent". They didn't even start on our bad high school teams.

QUOTE (the People's Champ @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 11:03 AM) CQ was a first round pick and I seem to recall we got him for next to nothing. Quentin has been tremendous but it would be inaccurate to say the Sox gave him up for nothing. The prospect the Sox traded for Quentin, Chris Carter, was the 2nd best offensive prospect in the Sox system and a legitimate power prospect (ranking solely behind Josh Fields). He was young for his level and very productive. Carter was eventually traded to the A's as one of the key prospects in the Dan Haren deal. Last I looked he was raking in the minors as well. It was more the Sox dealing a top prospect for a top prospect who was closer to the majors, but had some injury question-marks which lowered his value to being the equivalent of Chris Carter. Obviously Quentin has been amazing, but I just wanted to note that they did give up a significant prospect to acquire him.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 09:13 AM) I'm not sure if I'd use that comparison. Contreras has a long and storied history of excellence, so it's fathomable (no pun intended) that he may put up a decent season or half season. BA, on the other hand, doesn't have a history of success in the majors as a hitter. Therefore, it's understandable that people would have less faith in him. That said, he really hasn't had much of a shot and I agree that he needs more time. We probably won't know what kind of hitter he'll be until the end of next year. He was hitting the ball well a couple of weeks ago, so it's evident that he can hit ML pitching... it's just a matter of him doing it consistently. I think that a lot of BA's problems in '06 were due to his attitude. A friend of my sister's knew Anderson when he was at the U of A and what I've heard second-hand is that he was very immature back then, even by pro athlete standards. That may partially explain why Ozzie went with Mack in CF during the latter half of that year. Ozzie doesn't seem like the type to put up with rookies who have a bad attitude. From what Ozzie has said this year, it sounds like BA has matured significantly. I'm not comparing BA and Jose Contreras, rather comparing Jose Contreras and Freddy Garcia basically indicating that some poeple said they knew Garica was done. I wanted to point out that everyone at Soxtalk assumed Count was done too and that hasn't stopped him from having a very good first half of 2008.

Imus is an idiot and given his past comments I won't give him the benefit of the doubt here.

Oh man, that was hillarious. Talking about getting snipped and how his ass tastes.

I'm going to say the Anaheim Angels as the team being outscored that won it all.

I'll immediately dismiss the Phillips comparisons. Heck, in general, you take a lefty that doesn't throw 95+ and you can probably compare him to practically any other lefty in the game (as they are all in similar molds but what seperates the good ones from the bad/mediocre ones is the command, variety of pitches, and the movement). Richard has a good arm, much better than Phillips (he can hit 90 on the gun as someone pointed out as well). I have seen him throw a few times, but none recently enough where I could point out the progress he's made (that said, he's always been a prospect and it seems as he's putting himself squarely on the radar now with what has been a tremendous 08 campaign thus far). Still, I wouldn't classify him as a lock for major league success but he has a shot at it.

I'd personally go with Hossa. He's a bigger "star"/dominant player than Campbell. Plus, I think the Hawks should try to get Havlat hot early on and than sell him for something (if not sell him this off-season). The Hawks clearly need a legit defenseman but I still say they are a bit away so why not pick up a solid vet defenseman and work on turning Barker into that guy (or another in-house candidate) and save some of that money/talent to make a run at a big time goalie at the end of this upcoming season. I think the key for this year is to pick up a star that can get you to the playoffs this upcoming season and be an integral piece to a cup contending team in 09 and beyond (09 may even be a bit early), but get Skille up/Barker ready, etc this year (plus Kane/Toews more experience) and get that playoff experience, than you upgrade the goalie position and pick up another key piece (maybe a top notch defender if it doesn't look like the in-house guys will develop) and be ready to go from there.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jun 23, 2008 -> 10:49 AM) You're sort of in the same state of mind as me it seems when it comes to DT. Until he makes a huge move, I'll take all of he and McD's comments about how there will be top tier FA's here as grains of salt. I think if we miss out on Hossa which seems likely to me, I think we will get Campbell. If NYR offers him $8 a year, I think we'll go one better. Getting into bidding wars with the Rangers is probably a bad idea. First off the Rangers are a better team and second off they have a crapload of money (not necessarily cap room, but they definately have an ownership willing to spend some serious dough) so if you offer a comparable deal it would be hard pressed for me to sign with the Hawks. Hell, lets give a baseball analogy, say you are a player, would you sign a 5 yr 40M deal with the Drays (young, up and coming team but no recent winning/proven history) or a 5yr 37M deal with a team like the Angels/Yankees/Dodgers/Mets who have all been consistent playoff teams and continually are in a position to compete. Personally speaking, assuming either way you are set monetarily, you'd probably lean hard to go with the team not named the Rays. Now you go from 5yr 35 to say 5 yrs 42-45M, well now I'm going to the Rays.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jun 23, 2008 -> 10:38 AM) What makes you think that? The reality is better teams will offer a lot of money which means the Hawks will have to put out the top dollar offer. They are at least more attractive than they have been in years past to FA's (where they really had to offer ridiculous money) but bottom line is if they offer comparable money there is probably a more conssitent cup contender out there he'd rather go to). Not saying they have no chance because if you throw out a lot of money and mix in one or two big FA signings this year with the current young core you are talking about an improved team but the reality is until they upgrade the goalie position you aren't talking about a cup contender (Khaby isn't a stanley cup goalie anymore). So you go out and sign these two guys, you better have a plan on how your going to find your cup goalie next year (Crawford isn't it or at least not in the near future).

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Jun 23, 2008 -> 06:34 PM) I'm pretty sure that during that draft I heard the commentators saying that if you are going to play ball at a 4-year college, you can only leave to play professionally after your junior and senior seasons and if you are going to play ball at a junior college you can leave after your first or second year. I may be wrong, but I thought this is what I heard... There are exceptions but most players at a 4 year school can only leave following the junior and senior seasons. The exception are draft eligible sophmores who are a certain age by draft day or a few weeks prior to the draft (I think it is 21, but I'm not positive). If you go to a juco, you are eligible each year and high school seniors are obviously eligible. Its a pretty good rule and something I'd like to see the NBA institute. I think you shoudl be able to go out of highschool or at least commit to a minimum of 2 years (in basketball's case) of college playing time (3 years would be even better, but given the quicker impact you can make in basketball it may not be realistic).