Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jun 14, 2008 -> 10:54 PM) Jason, Thanks for your donation! It's hard to believe the ride is less than two months away now, and I still feel so unprepared. My weekly mileage is now in the hundreds and my "short" bike rides are now approaching 20 miles each. This is still such an intimidating thing. My goal is just to finish this. And to raise more money. You can help with that last part. Keep it up Rex, Keep it up!!!!

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 07:25 AM) Please...please...please Thank you

I'm not a big NHL fan, but the actual video game is amazing. Easily one of the funnest games of all time in my book.

Bradley is ridiculously good at baseball when he's healthy. He's a nut job, but I kind of compare him to Carl Everett that he doesn't usually do anything too stupid that you almost just have to love him, LOL.

Very cool story. Thanks for posting this. Looks like some real promising kids in that bunch. Tons of 16 year old arms that have great builds and are already hitting the low 90's. I highly doubt the Sox will be super involved in this area as they have yet to sign anyone internationally for 7 figures, but you never know. There are a few very highly touted venezuelan guys and having Ozzie on board could be one of those things that gives the Sox a bit of an edge (but they'll also have to offer up some $$$).

Awesome news Rex!!!

Lofton makes a lot of sense, especially if one of the big poppers goes down. If its Swisher, Lofton slides into the top of the order; If its Dye, Swisher sliders over and Lofton plays CF (or Quentin moves to RF and Lofton plays LF); If its Paulie, Swisher moves to 1B and Lofton plays CF; If its Thome, you can use a lot of guys at DH and let Lofton get OF time.

The biggest question with Russel has always been the effictiveness of his secondary stuff. He has a tremendous arm but has been very inconsistent with his breaking stuff. The main reason is that he tends to change arm angles and those variations can actually hinder you being able to throw a consistent breaking ball. At times its been a solid pitch (and when you combine it with the fastball which he throws from multiple arm angles) you are talking about a guy with the ability to be a good major league reliever. When it isn't there, he can be a bit more of a one pitch pitcher. Cooper should be able to help Russ out a bit though (in terms of consistency, plus the org is pretty good at developing variations to a guys good pitches). In terms of Elo, I wouldn't be shocked if they DL'd him. Coop got to see enough of him and now he and Hermy can put together a plan to rebuild Elo's velocity (I remember Cooper saying they thought they could) and he'll work on that and follow through with that on the DL (with the goal of getting him back later on this year). Than again, the Sox have a great relationship with Esteban and may have just told him the reality is they can't really promise anything based on what they have left and released him for that reason (so Esteban can try to catch on elsewhere or whtaever).

Happy Bday Dannyboy. Hope its a stellar one!!!

QUOTE (29andPoplar @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 05:47 PM) One thing about Adam Russell, he comes right at you and isn't afraid of the bat, like MacDougal. His control hasn't been the best in AAA though, he's been walking a guy every other inning. I like him and hopefully he contributes. I really really like Russell's arm. I like this guy a lot and I think he's going to play some good baseball with the Sox. I don't know if he makes an immediate impact but long term he's going to be valuable piece of the Sox pen (maybe even this year, but definately in future years).

I'm gone this weekend, but I'll use the force to lock it over the weekend!!!

Please...please...please

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 10, 2008 -> 07:03 PM) Are any of these guys legitimate prospects? Kanakoa Texiera (or however its spelled) is a legit relief prospect. I wouldn't call him a lock or anything crazy like that, but I definitely consider him a guy with the ability to be an above average major league reliever. In terms of Link, IIRC, he has a power arm. Can't say much anything else about him though as I usually pay little attention to minor league relievers (unless they are top picks or have legit power arms). I'd say both Matt Long and Omogrosso would rank as better relief prospects (both have been doing there fair share of starting, but they both are projected as relievers (not starters).

Until he signs, nothing is official.

Fixed

Come on Count...keep on pitching great and offense keep on doing your thing. Lets go Sox!!!

Signing a guy with a rap sheet like Henry wouldn't be exactly the smartest thing when the guy he'd be replacing was waived for having a rap sheet. The sad thing is, aside from that, Henry would be a major upgrade and would be a nice guy to have along with Forte. I do think the Bears need to find a way to bring in a back that could run for 1000 yards or so (with Forte hopefully getting another 700-800 yards). I don't want to have to put the entire load on a rookie, especially when the offense has so many other question-marks.

Freaking sweet.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 10:50 AM) Which one of the pitchers in our farm is the lefty that was clocked at 99 once? Poreda.

Interesting hire. Can't comment on it too much until I see some comments out of Del Negro and Paxson. However, this seems like a pretty solid hire. He's been around winning and he should be able to relate to the players. He has also been on staffs or teams that are superior offensively as well as defensively.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Jun 8, 2008 -> 07:16 PM) Just want to point out that AAA is not really necessary for most top prospects. AA has most teams' best prospects, while AAA is more of a holding ground for those guys (i.e. Josh Fields). So, 2010 is not out of the question at all. Actually, if he develops how we hope, you very may well see us do what the Reds did with Jay Bruce and let him play a month and a half or so in AAA and then call him up. That way, he's already in full-season mode and doesn't have to get warmed up facing Major League pitchers in April/May. Not to mention Charlotte has been a place where White Sox prospects tend to "die". For whatever reason, if your a top prospect and spend any significant time in Charlotte, you really start to fall off the radar. I don't know what it is either, but I may be basing that on some horrid Knights teams of 2-5 seasons ago (Borchard).

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 06:40 AM) The jump from high A to AA ball isn't that much of a jump, simply for the fact that pitching in B-Ham is such a pitchers' haven. So I would expect Poreda to still have pretty similar numbers, although the opposition will be tougher obviously. Long - term I see him in the pen also. Broadway's out in front of him at this stage (obviously being at AAA and pitching well). Actually, the jump from A to AA is the biggest jump you'll see (other than the jump to the majors). The talent pool in AA is just so much better. I will agree with you that pitching in Regions park can make it a little easier on pitchers, but regardless, its about as tough of a jump as there is.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 06:17 AM) Bureau was saying his mechanics weren't great and could lead to future injuries if I remember correctly. That was the first and only time I've seen anyone say that about him though. The main person who questioned his mechanics was someone on baseballprospectus or something along those lines who discussed his mechanics and questioned them. I also recall Bureau mentioning briefly Poreda's mechanics and how they would get in the way of him developing any additional secondary stuff. However, I don't think his mechanics would prevent him from adding a changeup to his repetoire as well as finding out additional ways to gain movement on his FB (he has a pretty good slider already). The one thing that could concern people are his very pedestrian strikeout numbers. For a guy who throw in the upper 90's, that is quite puzzling, but I am at least thinking the Sox player development people told him something and he's working on that (pitching to contact) as opposed to trying to blow away guys.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 8, 2008 -> 09:10 PM) He pitched pretty well last night (6 innings; 2 runs on 4 hits; only 1 walk). His two outings before that were mediocre (each was 6 innings; 4 earned runs). Overall, he's pitched pretty well. Not world beating but pretty good. The most impressive stat has been his low walks. In his last 10 starts (62 innings), he's had a total of 10 walks (vs. 38 K's). And he's only given up 1 homerun all year. I can't confirm this, but it appears as if they have been having him pitch to contact. I'm guessing they are working on getting him deeper into games and working on specific things with him. They know he has a nasty slider, but the key is improving his command and getting him to improve his other pitchers (which, other than health, will be the deciding factor of whether he makes it as a starter or a reliever). One thing you can't doubt is the fact that he has a major league arm.

Welcome aboard. Great post and this past week has definitely been a lot of fun.