Chisoxfn

QUOTE(Steff @ May 23, 2005 -> 02:08 PM) Of course it will.... I said it. And I say MVP Willie

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 23, 2005 -> 02:04 PM) Or his arm could be injured... http://www.daytondailynews.com/search/cont...y/0523reds.html Ya, his velocity has been down for 3 years now, yet he still saved over 40 games last year. Trevor Hoffman once pitched in the low to mid 90's, now he's lucky if he touches 90 and that hasn't ruined his effectiveness. Graves realies on an awesome straight changeup...its nearly as good as Foulkes and thats why he's been good. Now maybe he has a hitch in his delivery and its having an effect on his changeup or maybe he's just having problems locate and is in a funk. s***, it happens, guys get in slumps. All I'm saying is Graves has long pitched in the upper 80's to low 90's. Just watch him pitch, anyone that is going to tell me he consistently threw 92-93 is full of it. Maybe every once in a while he'd get it there, but thats it (at least thats been the case the past couple years...not just this year).

QUOTE(Steff @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:58 PM) Jim and I actually thought he was going to 2nd in case there was a play also. He looked like he didn't know what was up. Just watch...this will be exactly what was in Juan's mind and everything will be for not. I 've never seen a guy fake a ball being foul but when you watch Juan in the infield he always has his hands like that when he's getting ready to recieve a ball as the cutoff man. I've often times seen him do that to deek a guy too, just like every other middle infielder does.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:57 PM) That's what I saw, I was wondering what Lee was doing. Uribe's English is supposedly very poor. I don't know if he can say foul. Did he actually say something to Lee, which I find hard to believe that Lee would be able to hear him and understand him, or did Lee go by Uribe holding up his hands. Ya, I thought it was just him holding his hands up. Hell, the more I think about it I still think my original assesment is totally plausible in the sense that Juan was simply trying to deak out Lee into thinking it was simply a single and the ball was on its way back. Lee couldn't see the ball. Has anyone even heard Juan refer to the fact that he acted as if it were a foul ball.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:59 PM) I hope to hell not. His fastball is down to 86 - 87 mph. He's basically Shingo without the frisbee. And that's why his ERA is 7.36. He's never relied on his fastball in his life, just like Keith Foulke hasn't.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:57 PM) But you have to be sure he has something left in the tank to be effective. We don't need to take any chances of someone who can't cut it anymore on another team. Making the assumption all he needs is a change of scenery may not be the best assumption one should be making. He just might not have it anymore. Major league scouts might know a bit about what he might still be capable of doing. Last year Graves had 41 saves and a 3.95 ERA. Now that ERA wasn't all that grand and there were better closers, but thats not too shabby. Plus Graves is a lot like Keith Foulke...he doesn't rely on his fastball, he relies on a very good changeup. Graves has had one bad year prior to this and that was when he was put into the starting rotation and couldn't handle it. Considering he's what 31 years old I see no reason why he wouldn't be able to do it again.

Suzuki has flat raked down in the minors. I'd have to look at the draft and I know he was taken in the 2nd round by the A's, but IIRC Suzuki was on the board when the Sox drafted Lucy. I flat love Suzuki and think he was a steal. He's better than Landon Powell in my book. The guy is a natural born leader and can flat rake. He's hitting .281 with a .380 OBP, 4 HR and 20 RBI down in Stockholm (A Ball) I don't have a clue what Powell is doing. For whatever reason he's not in the MILB database so I don't know if he was injured or if he's in extended spring training and is going to play short season again. Edit: Suzuki was selected 67th overall while Lucy was selected 59th overall.

Hell on a random sidenote. When I first saw the play I just assumed Juan had his arms up acting as if he was catching the ball. Not till I saw the thread had I thought he was signalling foul ball (and I know that having your hands up is also the sign for that...but its also about the same thing you do when your gonna deak a guy acting as if your about to receive a throw). Was I the only one who saw it this way as opposed to the other?

If he clears waivesr than hell ya I'd go after him. This guy has been a very good reliever in the past and may just be suffering from the effects of being on the Reds for so long. He obviously hasn't been right htis year but sometimes a change of scenery is all it takes and if he clears waivers the Sox would be able to get him at the league minimum with the Reds picking up the rest of the tab.

QUOTE(Steff @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:25 PM) To be honest.. I think I initially thought that ball was foul.. anyone else..?? Hell, I tend to think Juan may of even thought the ball was foul. I was shocked that it stayed fair cause Paulie was playing so close to the line.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:24 PM) Aww, Hansen is a Boras client too? I really hope the Sox aren't as anti-Boras as it seems, because if they are, they're really limiting their options when it comes to the draft. Signability shouldn't be an issue this year. Our second pick comes when, in the fourth round? I really hope that they don't pass up a superior talent just so they can get the other guy signed. If they end up taking a player that they feel is better than the Boras client, than so beit. But don't bulls*** your fans by taking an inferior player because of the agent... Signability isn't the problem with Boras clients...its more when and if they will sign. If it only had to deal with offering him the money that would be another story. But when it comes to Boras the negotiations are long and dragged out and even if your willing to offer a fair amount of money, to Boras that isn't enough, and he'll hold his client out and demand more. Its just too much of a risk. You want to draft a talented player thats ready and willing to sign (for a fair amount of money) and that will report and get short season in and will be better prepared for next year. If you go for a Boras clients the odds are quite high that he'll hold out and won't sign. Its just not wise to do, especially when there are other talented clients available. I'd never draft a Boras client, unless I was a high market team and was prepared to battle it out. Plus that player would have to be light years better than anyone else on the board and as far as I'm concerned as close to a sure thing as there is. Jeff Clement, as Dan mentioned, is also a definate possibility. Personally I'm not a huge Clement fan simply because he's had some up and down years due to injuries. Plus I'm more a fan of good defensive catchers. However Clement has as good of power potential as any other collegiate player on the board and definately plays a position thats tough to find. Its too bad Suzuki wasn't in this years draft cause he's a hell of a lot better than Clement in my book (I'm still bummed the Sox passed up on Kurt).

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:13 PM) Ugh, that would've been horrible... I love Christopher Walken, but I can't imagine him as Hans Solo.

Tyler Green could end up sliding into the 3rd (highly unlikely, but possible) or at least I've seen some projecting him to fall into that range. If so, and I realize he's a Boras client (IIRC) I'd still make a grab at him. I also like Billingsly or whatever his name is. The SS from A&M. Really quick, good defensively and has made great strides offensively. Both him and Greene can flat fly. Its too bad Troy Trowloski will be off the board when the Sox pick cause he's gonna be a real good one.

He's rep'd by Boras so thats a no go. If he wasn't a Boras client he'd probably go top 10 anyway. However the guy I really like would be a reach at 15 but I'm a big fan of Cesar Ramos of Long Beach State. The southpaw has 3 good pitches and can throw them all for strikes. I like him more than Ricky Romero (who I've seen a whole lot of). Hell I'm still shocked Romero is so high. I mean he's an amazing college pitcher but for some reason I get flashes of Jim Parque in my mind. Of course both him and Parque have tremendous hearts (and if anyone doubts Parque's heart, just remember how the guy pitched on pretty much zero arm in the playoffs and did an admirable job at that). That and I think Romero's arm will fall off because he's been worked so much and just seems to have a violent motion. He does have good breaking stuff though and what I'd call a good enough fastball.

Dbaho...IIRC Brien is 10th all time in field goal accuracy. He was very good last season minus that one playoff game. Everyone has bad games.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:00 PM) Interesting. Who returns punts now? Vasher I would guess. Maybe Clayton? Right now Berrian is the favorite but the special teams coaches seem to think Vasher could turn into a big time return man. However, with the lack of depth in the secondary I don't know if I'd be risking one of the Bears better cover corners by having him return kicks. Bradley and Wade will also be competing for the spot.

Just got it in the mail from netflix. Once finals are over I'll be checking it out.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:00 PM) There is nothing per say wrong with what Uribe did. It just sets a bad precedent. If people think you play dirty, they will play the same way against us. The White Sox do not need other teams not only gearing up because we are number 1, but being told that we play dirty etc. ::shrugs:: Some times you may win the battle, and lose the war. And that is my belief on plays like this. Maybe they work and save us a run. But do we need the other team having fuel to beat us? SB I'll say this, what Juan did is a lot better than the way the Sox had played under Jerry Manuel with all there boneheaded plays. This at least shows they are paying attention to the little aspects of the game. Hell, I think Juan is a far more heady player than I ever suspected prior to this. I mean I see both sides of the situation and in the end it just falls on what you think is the right way to play and what you think isn't. It could go either way and I'm sure if you did a survey in the majors you'd get a pretty split reaction.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 23, 2005 -> 12:56 PM) Good God WHAT THE f*** IS WRONG WITH WHAT JUAN DID? Why would you stop running because you enemy told you to? Its no different than Arod trying to rip the ball out of Millar or whoever was playing firsts mit. Its just classless and you don't do it. Its bush league as Badger said. There are suttle aspects of the game where you try to outsmart the player. Like I mentioned faking the cutoff to slow the runner down or at least trick him into thinking the throw is coming. However, thats entirely different from faking out a fair or foul ball. That goes one step too far in my book and its not how I played the game. You can also try and trick the player with that lame fake to 3rd throw to 1st move (once again no problem). Now Lee still made another baserunning gash later in the game when he didn't go 1st to 3rd on a single to right and its still his responsibility to look to his 3rd base coach who should have the better angle. However its still bush league for Uribe to do.

For anyone saying that this is going to be an easy series, your wrong. I can't even remember the last time the Sox went into Anaheim and actually played well for an entire series (i can remember a few games where the Sox whooped the Angels...but a lot more where the Angels absolutely annihalted the Sox). This place is basically on the same level as playing in Oakland and the Sox are going to have to play at there best to leave here with wins. Regardless, sure the Angels are banged up but they also have Steve Finley finally getting his crap together and just took 2 of 3 from the Dodgers and have been pitching surprisingly well. Don't tell me whose out on the Angels, because they, like the Twins, play the game right and find a way to win regardless.

QUOTE(shagar69 @ May 23, 2005 -> 12:06 PM) who the f*** is santana? The best pitching prospect in the Angels system. The kid has electric stuff, but still has to learn how to pitch. He's definately not ready for the show, but thats not to say he can't put it all together and dominate for a start against the Sox. He's been sick in the minors.

QUOTE(longshot7 @ May 23, 2005 -> 11:11 AM) I'm really looking forward to the game - I'm going to tonight thru Wed - and it will be my first look at Garland. Haven't seen that much of the Rally Monkey this year, now that I think of it. We'll make him eat s*** too!!! Bring them luck tonight. I'll be there tomorrow thru Thursday.

Just look at Ozzie's quotes on Paulie and its also rather evident that despite the low batting AVG Ozzie still feels Paul is contributing. Plus mix that with all the comments KW had about Paulie over the offseason and its evident to me that the organization is still quite high on Konerko. Konerko is the ultimate team player. Now he may of called Uribe out when he shouldn't of, but once again I don't see this as him calling him out rather saying he disagreed with the play if Uribe did in fact lie (never said he did either). But thats just my 2 cents.

On a sidenote....I think all Paulie was saying is he didn't think that was the way you play the game. He didn't know what Uribe did and he went as far as to say that in the quote. I think people are really overreacting to this. And if it won us the world series, you'd probably hear another reaction out of me. Hell I'm sure if Jeter did it during the series it would be called brilliant. However, all that being said I think it goes beyond what a player should do. Hell I don't like it when a player tries to fake as if he caught the ball when he knows damn well he trapped it.

QUOTE(JimH @ May 23, 2005 -> 10:36 AM) In general I agree. We don't know if Konerko and Uribe already spoke about on the bench or something ... and Konerko knew he'd be asked about it since the microphones seem to always be in his face. Again I agree with your premise but there are variables we may not know. We don't play the game in the majors. I know when I played you would try and trick if you were playing an infield position. Act as if you were getting ready to catch the ball to hold the runner on 2nd (thinking the ball was coming in and he didn't have time to go to 3rd). Those were little things that are part of the game. As far as calling a foul ball fair...not cool in my book. However I have no idea if Uribe even did it on purpose. But thats just my 2 cents on the issue. I wouldn't do that to the other team and I wouldn't expect that back. To me that goes beyond trying to outsmart opponents.