Chisoxfn

QUOTE(Hanky Panky @ May 12, 2007 -> 07:42 PM) I was worried about us going into the 11th w/Erstad having to play 1st base. I'm sure glad that didn't happen. I wouldn't be concerned, Erstad is the best defensive first baseman in the majors.

He's better than Iguchi who just looks horrid right now.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 10, 2007 -> 08:49 PM) Buehrle on Danks- "[i taught him] everything he knows, except when he gave up a hit." I may just cry if Buehrle signs elsewhere. I love the way he handles himself.

f*** QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 10, 2007 -> 08:29 PM) Ben Gordon disappeared in the second half. This doesn't need to be said, but when he's not scoring, he's useless. He absolutely got dominated by Billups and Hamilton, blowing right by him no problem. Sefolosha was, at the very least, going to play defense. Something had to be switched up. The Bulls' offense against that zone in the second half was worse than the Marquette offense I watched all year. Something had to change... nobody was in the middle of the zone. Whatever. Hopefully the Knicks pick allows us to take a good back-to-the-basket player. I'd love Horford or Hibbert. If I'm in charge I get a new guard (moving Gordon or Noc) and than get a big by swinging the other guy in a deal while using the Knicks pick to get another big guy (we also try to use PJ in a sign and trade as well to help balance salaries) and clearly we release Sweetney and consider moving Duhon if possible.

I freaking hate those things. People look like idiots with them hanging in there ear but I admit they are good for those that have to talk on the phone a lot when they drive.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ May 8, 2007 -> 04:56 PM) I wonder if teams are worried this brings more accountability to their draft selections. In the past selections were quick, on the telephone, and without much public fanfare or media attention. Now, more than any other year, you'll have thousands more fans tuning in to watch who their team will select. Most not even familiar with one solitary name in the draft. If their team's first round selection doesn't reach the majors, experiences setbacks, etc. the criticism should naturally increase simply because more are exposed to the draft. This will especially be true for the Top 10. I can imagine future Sportscenter pieces involving someone's fall from grace. There will inevitably be an opening shot of said person placing on a hat of whichever team drafted them. What I enjoy the most concerning this draft is there is NO f***ing way Chris Berman is involved. In fact, ESPN would be smart to hire experienced draft writers outside their organization. Aside from Keith Law and Jim Callis, I can't think of anyone who understands what a team's needs are and whether player A or B fulfills them. BA has a partnership with ESPN (or I think they do) so I'd imagine you'd get a lot of Baseball America coverage and thats a good thing because they are hands down great at what they do (even if there are a few flaws).

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 10, 2007 -> 06:54 AM) Sweeney is ready for this level. He is that good. He needs to keep producing and make them keep him here. He will hit .260 or so and will continue to improve and having him up now not only is better than the other options but if he develops quicker than expected he could turn into a nice asset sooner rather than later. I really want him to stay up and get a lot of AB's and hopefully he'll continue to impress and never see the minors again.

QUOTE(Brian @ May 9, 2007 -> 05:35 PM) Anyone see in the Suntimes today that when Thome comes back, Sweeney will be sent down because "He needs to play everyday." WHAT?? Why can't we send Terrero back down and play Sweeney everyday? Ozzie wants to keep Terrero because "he can play all the OF positions." Um, can't Ryan as well? I want Ryan to play everyday....in fact I'm hoping he never goes back down (ie plays good enough that they find a way to get him boatloads of at bats the rest of the year, even if it means less of Pods/Mack and to a lesser extent Erstad.

Bout time...he should have won a couple games sooner (so should have Garland). Congrats though...I think it will be the first of many.

I just want to inform everyone that I've closed the front page and began my reconstruction using a new database (its something I've been planning on doing for a while) and I'm shooting for a Mid June relaunch. The front page will not only contain White Sox related news, but also minor league news (from FutureSox) and other Chicago Sports stories. It will also have a specific area for the networks two podcasts (Bulls Chat and The SouthSide Report).

I have Rowand on my fantasy team.

I'm still sad about losing Tyler Smith, but I commend him for making the decision to be closer to his ailing father.

Fantastic episode.

I'll fix it tonight. Its just the title of the webpage that was changed.

Just California.

This should be cool, just because I look forward to seeing the draft from a bit different of a perspective and I think TV can help. However, I don't want to see it turned into this long drawn out spectacle that the NFL draft has become.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ May 6, 2007 -> 10:41 PM) Jason, I've brought his name up like 100 times already, and you've got the best idea when it comes to the Angels, so I'll ask - is Figgins at all a possibility to be traded this season, or is his trading more of an offseason move? I know Anaheim has a lot of players in the positions Figgins plays, and they have quite a bit of team speed, so basically just curious. Either way, the Sox matchup really well with the Angels when it comes to atleast Crede, and I'd be very excited to make a move. This team definitely needs more speed and getting a few more players that get on base would be pretty damn nice. I think a team could get Figgins for pennies on a dollar. He hasn't done much anything since he came back and there are some in the organization that feel he's a back of the order hitter. Plus, the Angels have apparently finally decided they need a legitimate 3rd baesman (not just offensively speaking, but the reality is Figgins isn't near as good as most third baseman defensively speaking either). So once that happens, Figgins can't play SS (Cabrera is good) and they have Aybar, Moralse and Maicer Itzuris all capable at 2nd (so he won't be there) and in the outfield you have Vladdy, GA (when he's healthy) and at some point this season Juan Rivera and obviously Gary Matthews Jr...plus Reggie Willits is kicking butt. So yeah, I see no reason they wouldn't part with Figgins this year (mainly because if they get a good 3rd baseman, I don't see where he plays, especially if they are serious about getting Howie Kenrdick a boatload of AB's when he's back off the DL). I know one thing, Aybar can freaking fly and has a nice stick but he's no Howie Kenrdick and Figgins obviously can fly too. I know Ozzie needs speed and I think Kenny needs to make sure he has some. I think Morales is a guy I'd get (especially if they thought he was capable of playing outfield). Aybar would be nice too, of course I don't know where the club plays him (I'd have no problem with him replacing Iguchi, but the Sox aren't going to trade Iguchi or at least I wouldn't think they would). However, all of those names make sense: Aybar Figgins Morales Willits (I don't think the Angels would trade him) Kendrick would be amazing but he's pretty much untouchable along with Brandon Wood. QUOTE(witesoxfan @ May 6, 2007 -> 10:41 PM) Jason, I've brought his name up like 100 times already, and you've got the best idea when it comes to the Angels, so I'll ask - is Figgins at all a possibility to be traded this season, or is his trading more of an offseason move? I know Anaheim has a lot of players in the positions Figgins plays, and they have quite a bit of team speed, so basically just curious. Either way, the Sox matchup really well with the Angels when it comes to atleast Crede, and I'd be very excited to make a move. This team definitely needs more speed and getting a few more players that get on base would be pretty damn nice. Plus they would have a lot of interest for Logan/Thornton/Sisco. Whether the Sox want to give up one of those guys is another story, but for the right price I'd do it. I got to be honest, I'd consider dealing Iguchi in a move as well (too bad the Angels have no interest in him) just as a way to completely shake things up (plus if the team isn't thinking about keeping Iguchi I think you might as well move him and get value for him and find a faster 2nd baseman that gives Ozzie more of what he wants (and in general I think moving two guys in the lineup could help create a spark).

Linnecum has some serious flaws to his delivery that I think are going to lead to some nasty injuries in his career. He does have some semblance to Oswalt and his stuff though (but I think for every Oswalt there are a lot more guys that end up having arm problems).

The Angels are apparently getting very serious about making a big trade for a 3rd baseman and I still think Crede makes a lot of sense. The Angels also have an assload of prospects (middle infield) plus guys like Kochman/Morales...both of whom I wouldn't mind. The key is, this deal would be a lot easier to sign off on if Fields was developing down in AAA. I'm talking a Aybar/Morales for Crede. I don't think they bite, but than the Sox could come in and offer up one of there three lefties in the pen and I think at that point the Angels would perk there ears (its been forever since they had any sort of worthwhile lefty in that pen).

QUOTE(RME JICO @ May 6, 2007 -> 05:49 AM) How does Erstad have no upside, yet the rest of the lineup does? That makes no sense. He has clearly shown from ST on that he is past his injuries (just like Dye) from the last few years. No one is saying you have to commend him, but bashing him for being one of the main contributors in this offense is silly. Since April 19th he is batting .357/.400/.482/.882 with 10 RBI and 2 SB. That is pretty solid production from the leadoff spot. Also, he is a pretty big improvement over the automatic out we had in CF for majority of last season. If Anderson was putting up these numbers, no one would be complaining. I agree with your assessment of Ozzie's lineups. I don't believe he even knows what he is doing anymore. Considering the production that has came from anyone not named Erstad, does it really matter? Swap Dye and Cintron and you really couldn't tell the difference (aside from a few ab's). It really has been that bad and I think Ozzie has just thrown up his arms and is just trying things hoping he can create some sort of spark to get these guys back on track. I do think we may see the Sox make some offensive shakeups and those type of moves would start with Crede getting moved. I also think there is a possibility that Sweeney becomes the new everyday left fielder. QUOTE(RME JICO @ May 6, 2007 -> 12:41 PM) I understand wanting a real CFer, but Erstad is as close as we have right now. Even after his bad years, he still is a .286 hitter who gets on base at a .340 clip. Again, not great, but not bad. I think the fact that he is both in CF and leading off seems to make people want him to achieve almost unattainable numbers. It is funny that you mentioned 15 HRs and 30 SBs because he is on pace for 34 SBs, and 12 HRs (pretty close) - and that is after his horrible first two weeks. I would be happy with 10 HR and 25 SBs. He is what he is...an asset as a role player. Sure I'd prefer it if he were hitting in the 7-9 spot in the lineup but thats not the case and it isn't his fault. He's actually excelled in that role since he got his feel back (after having missed pretty much all of last year, it should be expected that he would have a slow start) so I don't get this no value. The guy brings a lot of value and he knows his role and excells in it. No team can have 9 superstars in its lineup, it needs all different types of guys to be a real good consistent lineup and the Darrin Erstad type fit in and can help winning teams (especially when he's healthy) and so far this year he's helped the Sox out a lot (the production they've gotten from him has been ridiculously helpful compared to what it got from BA last year).

Or it could be the fact from an offensive standpoint, he quite possibly had the worse swing of any position player in all of baseball. QUOTE(witesoxfan @ May 6, 2007 -> 09:49 PM) I really don't think that's the case, because Ozzie would have never played Timo if that had been the case. Timo may not have been good, but he had a role and was decent at it. I also didn't think he had a horrid swing. Albeit, he played way too much but I thought he had some valuable assets as a 25th man (obviously he should have never been a DH or gotten many starts, but he was a very smart player whose craftyniss came in handy at times).

QUOTE(Soxfest @ May 5, 2007 -> 04:07 AM) Williams failed to address post all star break problems and his bench he put together in 2007 is horrid! Huh.....The Sox have one of the better pitching staffs in all of baseball when for the last half of the season it was one of the most god awful ones. I'd consider that addressing problems. This team is far better than average and is fully capable of winning a world series (albeit, not with the current lineup...however, with a healthy Thome/Hall) I'm not too concerned (sure it would still have weaknesses, but every team does, including world series champs).

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 6, 2007 -> 08:42 PM) Ummmm....no. I would much rather have Sweeney playing than BA at this point, and I prefer Erstad until Anderson can put together two great months in AA. Sweeney and Anderson both have very similar tools. One projects as a better corner outfielder (Sweeney) the other as the better center fielder (BA). However, both are capable of playing all three outfield positions. But the difference is that Sweeney has baseball skills and when I say baseball skills I mean he has a baseball swing. Brian Anderson has a mechanical mess that gets exploited like crazy against mediocre major league pitching (let alone good major league pitching). We can hope Anderson eventually changes things, but there is absolutely no reason BA should be at the major league level unless he's replacing some other player because he is not better than Ryan Sweeney.

Personal attack or not, some of you are just f***ing ridiculous.

For f*** sake that was pathetic. Dismal game. Gordon is a f***ing turd and it consistently shows how pathetic his handles/turnovers are (I just have to hope he can score the next few games cause he continues to be s*** defensively and is complete worthless on offense when he's not hitting shots because he takes stupid shots and throws dumb passes. God what a f***ing joke.