Chisoxfn

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 10:05 AM) You know I was trying to make the point that Fields bat isn't that close to Crede's right now, as the article claimed it to be. I figured that, but I saw the whole should be a starter in 06 and I was surprised. The rest of those comments weren't at all directed at you Tony but I try to bring up the point that people that claim that such and such rookie is for sure going to be better than such and such are usually pretty pointless (unless the person they are replacing is a rookie that was absolutely terrible). For example, I'd feel confident that Ryan Sweeney would outhit BA's line of last year. But for some people (such as ESPN) to claim that Fields would outhit Crede is flat out nuts. Maybe in time he would, but why not keep Joe, get Josh ab's at both 3rd and LF (if he is on the major league roster I want him to get at least 300 Ab's) and get him acclimated so that in a year from now (if we do decide to part with Joe this off-season, which would be the time to move him, imo) and than we can move him with a better idea of what we have in Josh (as well as Josh having a better idea of what the major leagues are all about). At the same time I think another year in AAA would be very beneficial for Josh because I think he has things to work on with his swing (ie shortening it up).

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 08:54 PM) How do we all feel about the assertion that Fields' bat is about as good as Crede's? Longterm wise I wouldn't be surprised if Fields had as good of a bat as Crede. Defensively I don't think Fields will ever be Crede and people should note that I say long term because Josh isn't the type of guy that is just going to come up and hit and hit and hit (there really aren't many of those guys in the minors and the Sox sure as heck don't have any with the potential possibility that I think if Sweeney gets a bit more time he could come up and hold his own average wise/defensively). QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 10:58 PM) Not going to answer for Wite, because I'm sure he has an answer different than mine, since there are many to this question, but if Fields was in fact close to being a .280-.320-.800 type player, than the Sox would have found a spot for him on the 2006 roster. Why, he clearly wasn't ready for it. That isn't to say he isn't capable of being that in the future. From a pure hitting standpoint Fields does have the ability to be better than Crede on different levels but he right now he isn't nowhere near the hitter Joe is (but Joe had plenty of time in the minors as well as plenty of time to develop in the majors). I just laugh at people that think we can trade Joe and replace his production with fields right away (just like I laughed at people saying that Anderson was going to come in and replace Rowand with ease...even though Rowand was vastly over-rated by many and under-rated by a lot less). It doesn't work that way unless you have that very rare minor leaguer (typically would be amongst the top 5 prospects in all of the game) who just is a pure pure hitter. QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 09:13 AM) For anyone that watched the AAA All-Star game last year, or saw the Futures game.....the thing about Josh is he swings hard and misses...quite a bit. However, when he makes contact, it's a rocket quite a bit of the time. He's going to struggle, but I think he'd hit better than BA did in the first half if brought up right now. Its not hard to have a more god awful swing/plate approach than Anderson did. Its why I said he needed a lot more time and was always tougher on him than most when we wrote up our FutureSox evals (because his current swing just didn't translate to major league success). He has cleaned it up a bit but I still think it has a ways to go (Yes if he does get it figured out he has the ability to be a good offensive player but I still think his peak is more in the Torri Hunter range where he'll hit in the lower .270's with some pop, probably a bit less than Hunter, steal some bases and play very good defense and I'd take that. I just think that like Hunter, it may take Anderson a few years to get to that point.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 08:25 PM) I've never understood what people see in her, I think she is absolutely disgusting. She is worse than disgusting. Both Williams sisters are.

By the way Josh, we are going to do the preseason list a little different this year and try to cover more players but only rank the top 10. Let me know if you are up for helping out again

SI had a top 75 prospect list that came out and the following Sox were included on the list: 31) Danks 65) Sweeney 69) Gonzalez HM) Fields Very interesting to see Fields rakned behind two pitchers and Ryan Sweeney. Personally I don't have a problem with that but I know some other scouting groups have Fields as the best prospect in the system (Keith Law and someone at BA, IIRC). Keith Law, ESPN Insider did a top 25 list and an organizational list. Our organization was ranked 16th and this was because the Sox restocked the system with the Garcia/McCarthy deal. 17. Josh Fields, 3B, White Sox Offensively, there's not much of a drop-off (if any) from Joe Crede to Fields right now. For a player with limited baseball experience coming out of school, Fields has advanced very quickly and shown better strike-zone command than you typically see in multisport guys. I think there's quite a bit of growth left here, given his background. 24. John Danks, LHP, White Sox Has some fastball command issues to work out, but he's very close to the majors, more so than any of the pitchers on the honorable-mention list below.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 05:37 PM) So if you were thinking of buying a laptop now, would you go ahead and do it and get one with Vista? Or would you wait for a bit? Or buy one with XP? (you can still do that, can't you?) Well if I wasn't going to wait I would definitely pick one up with Vista (no reason not to). Preferably I think it would be best to wait a short time but even if you didn't I'd go Vista.

Without a doubt (even if he had 5 bad snaps in the super bowl) Mannelly is the best long snapper to ever play the game.

CSUF opens up its baseball season on Friday against Stanford and you can bet your ass I'll be there to root on my Titans!!!

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 04:12 PM) Here's the list of all the tv games for the event: Southern Illinois at Butler UNI at Nevada Drexel at Creighton Winthrop at Missouri State Bradley at VCU Holy Cross at Hofstra Appalachian State at Wichita State Kent State at George Mason Old Dominion at Toledo Ohio at New Mexico State Albany at Boise State Cal State Fullerton at Wright State Utah State at Oral Roberts Austin Peay at Akron The top 5 games here are pretty damn good, 6 and 7 are solid games as well. Got some real good matchups this year. YES...FULLERTON MAKES THE LIST!!!! TOO BAD WE GO ON THE ROAD.

Excellent news. This should make him a far more complete and better player and I think he'll be a real asset for us 4 years from now if he plays on the World Cup squad.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 09:44 AM) It's too bad, I was really pulling for that horse and thought he'd make it through after all of this. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=2747087 I refuse to support this sport.

Day I was Born: Come On Eileen - Dexy’s Midnight Runners - No idea if this is a good song or bad one (maybe I'd know based on hearing it). 18th Bday: All for You - Janet Jackson - Ugggh

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:37 PM) They're totally different players though. Gasol gives you that inside scorer that the Bulls desperately need, while Deng is more of a slasher. I totally disagree that Gasol isn't a top 5 center (from your earlier post) in the league though. Look at his competition; Yao Ming - Best in the NBA. So that's 1. Shaq - Chronically injured. So I'd rather Gasol. Brad Miller - Doesn't get enough rebounds, and has been injured lately. Wallace - Doesn't give you much on the offensive end. Dwight Howard - I'd rather Dwight. So that's 2. Eddy Curry - Close, because he's come on this season, but doesn't give you much else besides points. So I'll take Gasol. The guy you draft at #11 obviously isn't going to have the same potential as Deng, but he should be a pretty good starting SF in time nonetheless. And considering the likes of Gasol aren't made available very often, that's why I think the Bulls should bite the bullet and go for it. Well I think you have to consider Gasol both a 4 and a 5 so you also need to compare him to guys like Duncan, Garnett, Amare, Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer, Rasheed, Zach Randolph, etc. Albeit I think Gasol is better than Randolph (because Randolph isn't a true big in the sense that he prefers to shoot jumpers as opposed to play with his back to the basket).

QUOTE(ptatc @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:31 PM) actually most pitchers who have taken steriods say it doesn't necessarily increase velocity but it increases your endurance to hold the velocity over a game or to recover more quickly before the next game. This has a lot to do with the fact that strength is not directly correlated to pitch speed. People use the term arm strength and equate pitch speed. however this is not always true. I tend to agree with it. I tihnk from a relievers perspective (based on what I've read and heard via quotes in the media) is that it enables you to recover quicker and be able to throw in more games with your A stuff. That said I could see roids being able to help a bit with velocity but I don't know how much so (I think it would depend on the pitcher). For example....say Jamie Moyer decided to juice....I can't see roids giving him another 5 MPH on his fastball. Now say someone thats 6'5, 170 that throws 92-94 (maybe even hits 95 on rare ocassions) well I could see roids and a proper workout regime upping his velocity to where he consistently throws 94 and ocassionally hits 96.

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:12 PM) From what I'm reading, a second mortgage is literally another loan against a house. Does that mean two different payments as well? Ya. Typically what people do is a cash out REFI where they basically get a new loan on the home. Say when you purchased a home in 2000 and had a 300K loan. Now the home is worth 600K. You basically take out a new loan and pay off the remaining loan. There are limits but in the end lets say you refi with 300K remaining and take out a new 400K loan which means you have 100K in your pocket right than and there and one payment. Now thats say you own a home and instead of getting a new loan, you know your house is worth 500K and you only owe 200K which means you have 300K worth of equity. What you do is take out a equity line of credit for say 100K and now in essence you have 300K in loans but you don't get this 100K you essentially have a line and can borrow it when you want. You may just want the 100K line set up for a rainy day (and in that case you don't have any interest charges since at this point you have not borrowed against it). It is almost like the difference between a loan and a line of credit. And 2nd mortgages are typically done when you initially buy a house. You take a 2nd because often times by going with a 2nd you can avoid certain fees that you would have to pay if you took like a 100% loan all on the first.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:15 PM) Yea, I know. You told me that. I was pleased all around this year. The fact that i could sit in on everything I wanted to and walk around comfortable was a huge step up from last year. Only say hi when you have at least 45 minutes to spare. Bla, bla, bla, bla.... Sounds like the Sox did a first class job this year. Good to hear and even though last years was a cluster-**** there are still a lot of cool things you get to see/experience at Soxfest that you wouldn't be able to anywhere else.

I think its ridiculous to comment on this considering the Bears have done jack yet. It means nothing until the Bears win one more game. Yes, regardless it would have been a great season but I only consider championship seasons to be truly special. I also can't imagine anything ever topping the 2005 season. From seeing more White Sox games in person than I ever had in my lifetime, to going from the high's of being a guaranteed playoff time to the low's of that late season swoon to the high's of a dominant playoff run and the opportunity to see the Sox play in 3 playoff games and be in the city of Chicago during the two home games (watching them with some of my favorite Sox fans). I could pretty much tell you where I was during most of the post-season run and just seeing clips gives me chills.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:12 PM) Preston Wilson signs a 1 year, $1 million deal to return to the Cardinals next season. Again, not a bad signing. Wilson isn't good by all means but he's a serviceable bench player at this point in his career. Good god he is/was a serious strikeout machine though. Him and Sosa could have probably put an end to global warming from all the fanning they were doing back in the late 90's early 00's.

See if there are any people interested in helping out a charity (maybe someone that has empty cargo or something).

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 01:23 PM) Boo the results, but it was impossible to boo the man or the effort. Koch has more character than we are use to seeing in an athlete. I really disliked seeing his career crater like that. Far more satisfying to have seen a 'roid player crater like that. Ummm....I don't even know what to say to this one, but I'd read that last sentence awfully carefully and think about it.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 01:02 PM) The question becomes do you want to be the Florida Marlins with a couple World Series trophies sandwiching years as the worst team around, or a string of better than .500 seasons and no more World Series trophies? Bottom line to win the world series you have to be in the playoffs and the best way to do that is to consistently field a winning ball club. If a winning ballclub gels they have all the ability to win a world series (because all it takes is the team playing as a unit and getting hot at the right time). I'll take a team that is continuosly in contention for the playoffs because if you are in contention for the playoffs it also means your in contention for the series because once you make the playoffs you are in a spot with 8 other teams and anything can happen. The Marlins were a complete fluke. The first squad they had was absolutely dominant and a very very good team, also a team that was purchased with lots and lots and lots of money (ie high payroll) the 2nd squad was one of very very few small budget teams that have done anything in terms of winning it all in the era of small spending. Yes, small market teams are competing better now than they were 10 years ago, but lets also remind you that the past world series winners only the Marlins are what I'd consider a small market team. The White Sox, Angels, Dbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, & Cards are all teams with a better than average payroll and are not what I'd call small market teams. Heck, if you want to throw in world series losers like the Giants, Astros, Yankees, Cardinals, Tigers are again teams that I'd consider large market or upper payroll teams. So yes, I'd rather be in the position of the Sox continously contending because that to me gives you a far greater chance at winning it all than simply going out every 5 years and trying to find pure magic and have every young player develop and turn into a world series winner (I think the odds of that aren't much greater than winning the lotto).

I don't mind it. I happen to think Contreras has a lot to prove this year, but the guy when on is our ace and while I think Buehrle is also deserving of the opening day nod the end result is that none of our starters really earned it with there performances over the past season but when healthy Contreras was no doubt the best of the bunch (unfortunately he wasn't healthy most of the season and ended up being our most over-rated starter...since the rest of our starters pretty much stank for the most part and yes, Vazquez was by far the clubs most under-rated starter).

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 12:14 PM) His first year with the Sox, he lost velocity; the second, he lost command. He was most definitely in the 92-95 range that first year with the Sox, and he just kept getting taken deep, constantly. His second year with the Sox, he regained his velocity, and was back in the 94-97 range, but it was straight as an arrow and uncontrollable. He got traded for Wilson Valdez, and he's pretty much been non-existant since that point. That's what I recall of Koch anyways. And pile of crap is so harsh - Koch worked his ass off, and always took blame for his actions. I believe at one point he blew a save and he said he "Billy Koch'd the game" (or something to that extent). Those 97 innings he threw in 2002 with the A's just killed his arm, and took any magic Koch had left with him. I think you can safely say he sucked, but pile of crap? Eh, not to me he wasn't. Ya, Koch stunked with the Sox but there is absolutely no reason anyone should rip him for his character. The performance wasn't there and I have my thoughts as to why it wasn't there, but he worked his butt off his entire career in the majors and always took responsibility for his actions. I will never attack a person's character if they are responsible for there actions and work hard and thats exactly what Billy did. Rip him for production but not his character, imo. Its one thing if you are Mike Caruso and are completely lazy and high and completely uncomitted (although he was very very talented) and yes Kalapse of all the names I could have chosen, I went with Caruso just for you since I hadn't seen his name come up as of late, lol). QUOTE(hi8is @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 12:22 PM) koch was also dealing with some sort of medical problems that didnt get diganosed until after his time with us... "Former Oakland A's pitcher Billy Koch has it. And so do his wife and their three children. And though they can afford top medical care, doctors have no answers. It started in Oakland four years ago. Koch saved 44 games and was the top reliever in the major leagues. His fastball wowed crowds. And then the strangeness began. "He freaked out. He wanted to ignore it … I wanted to too. But when it comes to your kids, you gotta stop ignoring it," said Koch's wife Brandi. She describes their symptoms: "It was the scariest thing I had ever realized in my entire life. There was matter and black specks coming out and off of my skin." Within two years -- at age 29 -- Billy Koch was out of baseball, partly because of the uncontrollable muscle twitching that went on for months at a time and often kept up him up all night. The disease is characterized by slow healing skin lesions that often extrude small, dark filaments, especially after bathing." I remember reading a few things about this and that some people claimed the entire illness is a mental illness. Still it was something that no doubt had an effect on him and his family (I never remember reading a follow-up to see if they were able to get past it).

I'm perfectly happy with XP and don't plan on upgrading until I buy a new PC (which hopefully won't be for a while since my current PC works perfectly fine and I still got a year and a half till I get a new company laptop). That said I wish I had Windows XP Media Center just because it would make things easier when I stream stuff to my 360. But I'll just live without it. XP is a great operating system when compared to the crap that was 98, 95, & ME. Windows 2000 professional was pretty nice though.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 11:03 AM) 28 of 33 in Charlotte last season. I wouldn't expect those numbers are the major league level, but I'd compare him a bit to Carlos Lee, who was a surprisingly good base stealer. He's not going to steal or run consistently but the second a pitcher stops paying attention he is more than capable of going and nabbing 2nd. Shines helped him a ton with that last year and I'm really glad Shines will be with the big club this year because I think he's going to bring a unique perspective and attitude to the coaching staff. QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 11:21 AM) Our OF defense would be a blooper reel. To be fair, though, I suggested this on a podcast last year before everyone else talked about it, so there. Blooper real? Dye is good in RF, Erstad or Anderson (that is because I don't think Erstad plays CF much unless he proves he is healthy are good in CF) and Fields can't be worse than Pods in LF (especially since Fields could actually be capable of throwing someone out).