Chisoxfn

QUOTE(Cali @ May 16, 2005 -> 12:05 AM) http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/newswire.cgi?id=6904 Good News(for me): Arrested f***ing Development picked up. Bad News(for me): (As gay as it might sound), Jack & Bobby cancelled. I really liked that show, it had an interested idea, though I think I may have been one of the only people in the country to watch the damn show. I hope Christine Lahti gets an Emmy nomination in the wake of the death of the show. Nah, I watched that show as well. I thought the whole idea was pretty cool. It was also just an interesting show.

It may be one of those things where its an aim virus.

Thats that...thread closed. On a sidenote, I think now would be as good of time as any to recommend the ignore feature. Each of you put each other on ignore and then you don't have to worry about it anymore.

First I just want to say...take some breaths people. Secondly, as far as the Sox offense goes its been awful all year and the best its been has been recent. I didn't see todays game so I can't comment on it, in fact I only saw one game of the Orioles series I saw was part of Thursday and Fridays. However Paulie is awful. His problems dont' evne come from trying to pull everything, although its a big issue (and its quite unlike him to be honest) but it stems more from one of the worse batting eyes I"ve seen. He's swinging at crap and so is Carl Everett (although somehow he's hitting) but he's chasing every single changeup out and away (as well as down) and a lot of the times he's just found a way to get bat on ball and its dropped. Dye has been a little better, but how couldn't he of done better and Konerko's still UGLY. Rowand is improving and AJ is showing signs of life. He hasn't yet done what AJ can do and he's been a slow starter in the past. But this offense has some changes to make. Guchi may have a few adjustments necessary as well considering he k'd 3 times yesterday and from reading the posts here looked awful today. Crede has just been meh after his hitting streak although he's kept his average respectable. Been watching Cotts lately (and I'm a Cotts backer) and he's off. Just zero control and I concur, he should be down in the minors.

Well by last years numbers I'm assuming your referring to his major league numbers? Regardless I'm with you though. I think he's going to make a solid reliever and I can only hope its with the White Sox. However, I don't think it will be till next year unless someone gets hurt. Its unfortunate, but the pen is quite full.

QUOTE(JimH @ May 14, 2005 -> 10:36 AM) You're right, and the White Sox are one of those teams. Examples, among many, are Dan Wright, Wyatt Allen, Rylan Reed, Rob Purvis, and from last years draft Nick Lemon. The guys who appear to be on track for success are guys who pound the strike zone ... Brandon McCarthy and a guy like Dan Haigwood is starting to come on nicely. There's a school of thought to draft talent and try to harness it, and of course the flip side to that is to draft somebody who has already accomplished success. Personally, I prefer to take a more finished product. There's less chance of hitting the lotto on a pick but you're likely to have more guys who will reach the majors either in your own organization or by trade. With all these Boras clients, it will be an interesting 1st round. The White Sox may face a dilemna at #15 where a guy is sitting there unexpectedly. Count Wes Whisler in that group that could be similar. He was a really high pick for a guy that never succeeded at the college level from the mound (IIRC). However definately has a nice arm and low mileage. Very projectable as well. But hey you do a mix of both and if you like a guys arm you draft him, especially in latter rounds. It just seems like the Sox have taken a little more risk earlier then some teams, but they also appear to try and balance that by drafting tons of college guys overall and they are the safer pick in general (not to say you should not draft high schoolers cause you should, especially now when so many GM's are focusing on college level players and because of this they are getting overdrafted and the high schoolers are sliding.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ May 14, 2005 -> 10:05 AM) Chad Cordero was drafted as a closer wasnt he? and he sky-rocketed through the minors and is the nationals closer now. Yep, out of Cal State Fullerton.

QUOTE(Mplssoxfan @ May 13, 2005 -> 07:57 PM) I was watching Tyson-Holyfield II (the ear fight) in a ballroom in the Sox Team hotel in Minneapolis when, lo and behold, Frank took a seat right next to me. We chatted about boxing for a little bit, then watched the mayhem. Genuinely nice guy. Another nice guy was Jim Abbott. I let him and Kirk McCaskill, who's nice himself, hang out in the bar I worked at when they both pitched for the Halos. That bar then became the Angels' pitchers' bar whenever they came to town. The pitching coach for Cleveland, Carl Willis, pitched for the Twinks in the early 90's. I got to hold his WS ring the night he got it. That was pretty cool. The one that got away, though, was drinking from the Stanley Cup. I had to pick up a shift at my bar the night that Tom Chorske, who was with the Devils at the time, brought the Cup to one of my fav bars in Mpls. Chorske still gives me crap about it. Kirk and Jim were awesome guys. My dad was friends with Jim's wife and I got to meet him a few times. Total class act and he was good friends with Kirk or so I assume cause the two went to a ton of things together, even during the offseason. Kirk was nice, but Abbot was awesome. I don't have any good stories from this, I was really young, but I just remember he was and probably still is my favorite pitcher of all time.

QUOTE(shakes @ May 13, 2005 -> 10:46 AM) On bbtn Tim K. said there will be pitch count limits and appearance limits. He also said teams will not be able to block players from participating. This should be fun. Man this will be a total blast.

QUOTE(longshot7 @ May 13, 2005 -> 09:34 AM) I know. They're lucky they're in a weak division this year. Ya they are. Escobar/Colon are there only good pitchers. Byrd and Washburn are average at best and then Lackey is below average in my book. However, Lackey usually does have a very nice run every year.

QUOTE(Spiff @ May 12, 2005 -> 12:12 PM) The Angels' pitching sucks but who exactly should they have signed this year? Should they have outbid Arizona for Russ Ortiz or outbid the Mets for Pedro? There's no way that would have been smart. Maybe if they had thrown a ton of cash at Jon Lieber or El Duque they'd be in a bit better shape but who knows if those guys would have signed there. If Texas's bullpen gets it together they'll hang in it but I fully expect LA to cruise by default. Instead they threw like 18 million at Finley/Cabrerra and then 5 mill at Byrd. I don't really have a problem with Byrd but I did and still do have a problem with Finley/Cabrera.

QUOTE(longshot7 @ May 12, 2005 -> 11:43 AM) I totally disagree about Cabrera. I watched him play a lot so far this season and I like his defense way more than Eckstein's. His range is phenomenal. Their offense is horrible right now tho. Vlad & GA are awesome, but Finley has started slow and they're getting almost NO production from C, 3B, or DH. It also seems like they've forgotten baseball fundamentals (like moving runners over, sacrificing, and bunting.) I have a theory that Scioscia takes naps during games. And their rotation is very suspect. Colon has been mostly terrific this year, but after his great start, it looks like Washburn is coming back to earth. Escobar is good - but almost never gets the run support he deserves. Lackey is awful and Byrd is mediocre at best. This is where they need to upgrade the most - hopefully way before the trading deadline. Agree with you on the pitching and Cabrera's defense. However, Cabrera gets all this love but he's nothing offensively. He's quite one dimensional and I wouldn't pay what they did for a one dimensional ballplayer. To go along with what you say though, Scioscia has quickly lost his managerial skills. IT all started last year in my book and I've noticed the demise more this year. Like the time he had Erstad steal 3rd in the 1st inning with no one out, 2 on, and Vladdy up at the plate with a 2-0 count. Oh did I mention Pudge was the catcher.

Yesterdays times had an article saying a lot think he's fighting a cockaine addiction. But his people denied it in the article I saw.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ May 13, 2005 -> 09:46 PM) I was bored Frank Thomas = Laetitia Casta Dustin Hermanson = Christina And Paul Konerko will be joining me and Willie I was Laetitia...and Frank has got nothing on me...well minus 415 or so homers.

QUOTE(poorme @ May 14, 2005 -> 07:54 AM) i don't think i'd ever draft a closer in the first round. the only two closers that were drafted as closers (i think) and amounted to anything were gregg olson and randy myers. Koch was drafted as a closer. Maybe not the greatest example, but its hard to overlook what he did in Oakland and Toronto. He did have some good/solid seasons.

QUOTE(farmteam @ May 14, 2005 -> 07:20 AM) Alright, 2 names to throw out there: Mike Bowden, a prep righty out of Waubonsie Valley (Could the local factor play a role?), and Craig Hansen, a closer out of St. John's. Here's the BA dealie on him: "With 96 mph fastball, 90 mph slider, could nation's premier closer be first to reach majors?" Now, I normally don't advocate taking closers in the first round, but this guys sounds like he has lights out stuff; given our recent closer troubles, would taking this guy in the first round be a good idea? We could have our own home grown closer. NOTE: I'm not saying we SHOULD take either of them, I'm just throwing the names out there. No, because he won't sign this year anyway. He's a Boras client. And while I don't advocate taking closers, if he weren't a Boras client I really wouldn't have a problem with him. Of course having said that if he weren't a Boras client he wouldn'be around when the Sox pick. I do think there is a shot Wade Townsend will be there when the Sox pick. If you talk about getting a lot of your 15th selection, he'd be that type of guy. At the same time you don't know what a year off can do and whether he'll sit out yet again.

QUOTE(knightni @ May 12, 2005 -> 09:55 AM) I always liked Paperboy. You could get points by throwing and smacking barking dogs with newspapers, breaking windows, hitting guys who were mowing the lawn...etc.

Yofu was released yesterday so the Sox must of known.

QUOTE(Steff @ May 12, 2005 -> 08:09 AM) Anything is possible.. but it's supposed to rain here tonight, tomorrow night, and Saturday. They wont double on Sunday because it's get away day. All depends on the weather I suppose. I didn't know it was supposed to rain all weekend. If thats the case your probably right. Although If the weather is nice on Sunday they could try to squeeze in two.

QUOTE(Steff @ May 12, 2005 -> 07:57 AM) The wont double here.. they will double in Baltimore in late July. Wouldn't they want to double here cause the Sox would be losing out on revenue if they waited. Unless of course the Sox somehow get the ticket sales from then. I just figure they'll do all they can to get all 4 games played here. MLB rarely has a team play an extra road game unless it has to (for example if the weather is bad this entire weekend and one or two games get cancelled, then they'll try and make something for it). Heck, a lot of the time they'll even schedule a game on an off day (something I hate cause it puts teams all out of whack). Hopefully all the games get in and its nothing to worry about cause double dips can be a bummer especially if you end up getting a couple in a row (murders your pitching staff).

Burke was back in Charlotte yesterday.

QUOTE(Randar68 @ May 12, 2005 -> 07:54 AM) The only way they take a catcher is if Jeff Clement falls to 15, the Sox do like him. What are the Sox needs? 1) Every organization always needs pitching. That said, pitchers are always a coin flip. After taking a ton of lefties last year, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Sox go with "The best available pitching option". More specifically, the Sox lack RH'd power arms in their organization. Those guys are generally pretty risky, though. Much more risk/reward picks than proven college pitchers. 2) SS's are always great draft picks, because they can usually move to just about anywhere on the diamond if they don't work out at SS. That said, the Sox have 2 defensive whizes at SS and could use a legit bat. In general, the Sox don't have much depth at the corner IF positions behind Fields/Rogo. Very little depth there. I like Brandon Allen a lot, but he looked terribly overmatched in Bristol last year and will be in for another year of short-season ball. 3) The Sox have a lot of OF talent, but not much below AA. 4) Chris Stewart and Fransisco Hernandez are their only catching prospects. Again, if Clement does drop to them, I would surprised if they passed on him. They are short on power bats, and Clement might eventually 1st baseman, something that is an organizational need as well. In short, you can never draft enough pitching or SS's early, and OF/Catching/Pitching elsewhere in the draft. Overall I agree with your assesment, personally I don't see any catchers worthy of going top 15 at least not Clement. Clement is an awful defensive catcher and is more of a 1st baseman. From that stance, I also think he's overrated offensively. He's had some monster power seasons, but I'm with BA when they say he'll turn out like Eric Munson (bust). If they want a 1st baseman, wait and draft Larish (he definately has tons of power, although I don't know whether he'll excel in the minors or not...his average is a bit worrisome). There are a few SS's that will fall in the Sox range or could and I think thats where they go. Or your right, pitching, you can never have too much of it and they do like right handed arms. I could easily see them grabbing the best "signable" pitcher on the board.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 12, 2005 -> 06:55 AM) Regardless of how many people actually show up, they have a lot of tickets sold for tonight's game, and will do anything possible to get the game in. If it does get called, it would probably be very late tonight. Of course itw ould be nice if it were sunny. You'd get more walk up sales and near sellout crowds. Still, weather is something you can't control and they have quite a few tickets sold for the whole series. Hopefully nothing gets postponed cause then its going to be a doubledip on Saturday or Sunday (with the O's not coming back into town again). Lets go Sox, show em why were the best in the bigs

QUOTE(26thStreet @ May 11, 2005 -> 08:46 PM) Charlotte 6, Ottawa 3 Felix Diaz got the start Tuesday, pitched well, but Dave Sanders picked up the win. Funny moment: Ottawa 1B Walter Young hit a shot back to Diaz (I think, memory is hazy). Diaz threw wildly to first (plenty of those throws tonight), so Young went to second. Ball ricocheted into right, allowing Young to go to third. Relay from RF by the second baseman to third went into the left field bullpen, allowing Young to score. Walter Young - not the former Illinois WR - is a 300-pound man. It was funny seeing him lumber around the bags. Adkins on the mound Thursday in series finale. Welcome aboard. Really appreciate your info

There must be a reason he hasn't played much the past couple years. Obviously steroids has something to do with it, but he's got to be struggling with something else. Plus the Knights have some pretty dire needs and Guitirez and Rosie Brown are both better than Giambi at this point.