Chisoxfn

Well, couldn't they still be afraid for their families that may live elsewhere or in general for the country. I agree that you have a hell of a lot lesser chance of dying if you live in Wyoming or what not, but that still doesn't mean you won't be effected by a terrorist attack on US soil. Sure, a whole hell of a lot of people live in New York..but New York isn't the only place that was effected by 9/11. The entire US and to a point part of the world was effected by it. As far as Saddam goes and the war in Iraq, you can do a search on any of my posts and I long said I would be for this war regardless of WOMD or not. I also said that I was sure their were other reasons to go into war, hell its politics, their always is. Theirs a reason that coutnries aren't doing all that much in Africa and it downright sucks cause that is the most screwed up continent in the world, imo. However, their is no beating the Bush that Saddam was a murder, he was an evil dictator and he was not afraid to complete all out genocide. He did it in the past and he may of done it in the future. The fact that at least part of that country can be free now is fine with me. I've also said it would be an insanely tough war to win, because people don't like being liberated by someone else, imo. They don't mind the help, but in general the population wants to be liberated and if Iraq is going to end up working out (and its hard to say it will, cause whenever you have the casualties you don't win) but it will take the people buying into the system and starting to see total change and what not. I long believe Bush's greatest mistake was not doing this back in the original Gulf War. However, I still think this war was the right thing to do. As far as weapons, I still think they have some sort of chemical weapons somewhere, but the hell if I know where they are. All that desert, who knows. Maybe intelligence was completely wrong...its been wrong numerous times (Bay of Pigs anyone)

Depends on which Kerry...is it the Kerry that called Saddam a terrorist or the one that now is backtracking on the whole thing. Or perhaps it is the John Kerry that is now attacking Bush for not giving enough support to the troops to win the war. The same John Kerry that voted against all the bullet proof vesting and what not to PROTECT the troops. I know politics is an issue, but its ludicrous to see him go out on the warpath right now and make all these claims when he's pretty much been the exact opposite on them. Disagree with Bush all you want, but I'm a hell of a lot more confident to get a straight forward answer from him then I am from Kerry and thats something I definately respect.

The way i see it, Paulie is a perfect #5 hitter and I'm not opposed to keeping him. Beltran fits very nicely in the 3 slot, but I'm thinking they may hit him 4 (if this went down) to break up Thomas and Konerko. Plus it gives some balance. Then the 6th hitter would be a mix of Everett/Gload, imo. Rowand in the 2 slot and I wouldn't be able to tell you who else would be playing, but I'd guess Uribe is gonna get a shot at the 7 slot and the Sox will have a new leadoff hitter and possibly 3rd baseman.

I have absolutely no problem with that. Left field is a position that can be filled in house imo, with Ross gload. Thats right, Gload can actually play left field, especially if you give him some winter ball to get acclimated. Plus Lee should command heavy value. I still think he has more value then any other offensive player on this team. And Carlos Beltran...hell ya. The guy is an absolute STUD. Him and Rowand and someone else is a-ok with me. Rowand in rf, Beltran in CF and thats two guys with good arms for their position, and awesome range. Beltran would also give the Sox some switch hitting power. On another note, considering Everett is going to be back, I'd assume he'd get a lot of time in left field, which is a position he could do a decent job at. With him and Gload their, Beltran in center and Rowand in rf I would have absolutely no problem. Plus, you lose 14 mill with Maggs and 8 mill with Lee and get some damn good players in return (hopefully pitchers or a pitcher and a leadoff hitter) and that should be enough to get Beltran in here long term. Still, I'd be in shock if the Sox got Beltran.

From what I know Smith is going to be invited to major league camp this year. Things may of changed, but last I knew that was the plan, but that was probably a month and a half ago. He did a very good job this year though.

Exactly and I'm so so happy the Sox made this call. He had an awesome season, climbed from low A to AA and has a shot at starting in AAA and will get some time with hte big club in spring. 170 innings is plenty and he's developing into a definate workhorse, front of the rotation guy. I'm excited to see what another year brings. I'm with ya too on Honel and Wing, especially Wing. They both could put the Sox back on the map with pitching prospects, along with Bmac and Tracey.

Yep, the Sox have shut em down for the season...which is fantastic in my book.

Wish Reed nothing but the best. I definately wish he was in the org and he's gonna be a good ball player. Whether he'll be great, I don't know, but he'll be at the very worse a good grinder.

You get a gigabyte of storage space online. Its supposed to be awesome.

Offensively Pujols....pitching wise Ben Sheets or Johan Santana. I think their are some very good young pitchers out there. Hell, I'd be tempted to go with Prior, regardless of his struggles this season. Safest pick by far is Pujols though. One year...my god BONDS.

Done and Done...thanks

Same with me, I want to really try this out.

Just want to point out the Google is talking about coming out with an internet browser, probably using the mozilla open source code which is badass. I don't know about anyone else, but I love Mozilla, but google usually kicks ass at what they get into, so I'm gonna be interested to see what they come out with.

The idea of Kerry as president truly scares me. I have absolute no faith with his record as a politician and cringe at the thought of seeing him run this country. I can't even think what it will do to the economy. I'm not huge on Bush, but my god I am afraid if Kerry gets in. I just hope Bush can take over, do a solid job and then the conservatives can get a better candidate in, because their economic ideas and the smaller government beliefs are whats best for this country, imo. I don't want to see new social programs, I wnat to see the country get the thousands to hundreds of thousands of programs they have fixed because right now many of the programs are completely f'd up. The last thing I want is more ridiculous programs and more specifically more beaurcrats.

I have no idea why Stacie is still there...WOW.

Umm..thats one retarded school. No one was forced and what not. I guess since its on campus grounds they have to abide by the rules in a sense, but gimme a break.

I've heard of the 18 thing but never had a problem with it. Did a few trips with some buddies and just did it on expedia or what not and never had a problem. I don't think they really care as long as you don't trash the room and what not.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minor...8overallas.html Yet another awesome accomplishment for Bmac. IT was a hell of a year..heres to a strong finish in the AFL

A year ago I'd of agreed with you on Scioscia, but now I have absolutely no faith in him. To me he's managed Anaheim into the ground this year with the way he's handled that pitching staff. I don't have much problems with the way he runs the offense, in fact I like it, but for a catcher he does an awful job with the pitchers, imo. However, he's definately had injuries and other things hinder him, but I've seen a lot more negative out of him this year then I had in previous years. I should add, I definately not an "its all about stats" person. I think you should take into account both factors. With an offensive player I look at their stats and see things and then also look at their defensive ability, speed, and potential to grow (which is definately scouting related) and I think thats a pretty good balance. With pitchers, you look at the whip, k's, k/bb and of course ERA to a point. I rarely look at W/L although inning pitched and what not are important because you see how they hold up and what not. To go along with it, you look at their stuff and try to project where they will be. I also vehemently disagree with Beane's "MoneyBall" draft, I think it was one of the most overhyped drafts ever. And drafting guys 20 rounds earlier then they are slotted is just STUPID...at least in the early rounds. Tell me all you want about affordability, if they wanted to take a reach they could of still gotten those mega reaches in the 5th and 6th rounds while reaching on 2nd/3rd round talent in the 1st round and sandwich rounds. At least they got Swisher though...he seems like he's got the shot to be a keeper.

This is a pretty s***ty stat. Just look at the rankings of the teams and you can pretty much see their isn't much of a correlation to winning. I mean their is a semi correlation, but hardly one worth tracking, imo. Right now, I think baseball needs to do what they can to get better stats to evaluate pitching. I think whip and k/bb, k/ip are definately helpful, but I'd like MLB to deal more with inherited runners in regards to measuring the talent of a relief pitcher. I know most statiticians do so, but you rarely hear reporters or beat writers or mlb talk about it.

I agree with that at times, but at other times you may have a crappy hitter or two coming up to the point that moving a guy over and hoping for just one hit in two outs is better then expecting your crappy hitters two get two hits to score the guy from first. Also, late in a game, you need that run to win the game, and you got a good bunter up and a solid hitter or two on deck, then I say move that runner over and try to execute..especially when its like a leadoff double. I think anytime you get a leadoff double, you should score a run. Move the guy over (not necessarily with a bunt, but by hitting the ball towards rf) and go from there. Sure it doesn't always happen and I understand it, but I really have no sympathy for when a guy is on 3rd and less than two outs and the run doesn't score. Sometimes you just need that run more so then trying to get multiple runs and you end up sacrificing yourself just to score that run. However, I'm 100% convinced that Ozzie has no idea what sabermetrics is and that if left to him (in terms of player personell decisions) this team would suck. However, in regards to certain players, I definately trust his opinion. I also stick to my guns that he's a lousy manager thus far this year. I've been baffled by some of his lineup decisions and what not. More importantly I've been baffled at all his stupid ass comments and assaults on his players. I think its bulls*** to show up a player with a quote in the media and he does it way too often. I'd rather see you keep those matters in house, except in very specific situation where the ocassional horrible quote can be used as motivation for a player. However, Ozzie does it so freaking much that it can't possibly be motivating. I just hope Ozzie has that ability to get the absolute most out of his players cause if he doesn't, he will cost the Sox a lot of games and I'll only hope they have so much talent that they are able to overcome it. I have the same opinions on Baker, however Baker is absolutely way too nice to his players to the point that he absolutely babies him...especially Sosa and what not. He basically says how amazing his players are all the time in the media. I say give credit when deserved and if your gonna knock a guy, just shutup, no comment, and talk to your player. To me, I'd think they'd respect that a hell of a lot more and when the players respect you, they'll play even harder. And as far as Hawk and DJ go, I respect them for somethings, but especially in regards to Hawk he is just way to closed minded in baseball. Things have changed and people have new tools for evaluating players..tools on top of the old school scouting scales and what not. You gotta adjust with time and Hawk just goes on his rants about how those type of people don't know beans about baseball and what not. Hell, i remember his rant on how fans were idiots essentially...although he said he meant it as the baseball writers. Still, I thought that was a real cheap shot, considering the greatness of his tenure as GM. I like a lot of things about Hawk, but these are things I just flat out don't like.

Alright, I just want to get an idea if you buy into sabermatrics, aka the Billy Beane concept. DePodesta in LA, Rippaldi in Toronto, and Theo Epstein are a few of the other sabermetric guys I can think of that are GM's in baseball. And as far as I'm concerned, all pretty much rank up their as the better gm's in baseball. I know some would question having Rippaldi on that list (I know I botched the spelling), but to me he's done a good job in Toronto (although this was an extremely tough year) dispite being very strapped by ownership and I do think Toronto is semi close to being competitive, although its highly doubtful they will win in that division with the BoSox and Yanks very competitive at this point in time. Now I don't consider KW one of these type of GM's. However, their are a lot of things I like about KW. What does kill me is Ozzie's pretty much utter stupidity in regards to certain players. I understand that statistics can't measure everything and that their are nuances and what not to the game. Hell, thats one of my favorite things about baseball. But at the same time, you'd be stupid not to look into certain stastisticts to evaluate a player and make decisions on the future of your ball club. Stats can also be used to find a player thats undervalued or not wanted that could have the potential to break through. Some of their secondary stats may prove that and what not. I respect the fact that Ozzie wants hard working, good baseball players and I differ heavily from the sabermetrics point of view in regards to base stealing and bunting because I think their are other things that play into account during those situations at certain times...especially when your going up against an ace pitcher or just need one run to potentially win or tie the game. However, when it comes down to just hyping a player because they can only do the little things...WELL Thats freaking stupid. Hell, its incredibly stupid. Case #1 and Cheat has definately talked about this the most, but Timo Perez. What the hell is this guy starting as much as he is. He has a s***ty average, a s***ty OBP, and is a poor outfielder. He has poor range and lazy fundementals and a good arm. He is a good bunter and a semi smart player and has had some clutch hits. I don't have a problem with him being used ocassionally off the bench, but for him to play as much as he does is stupid and I sure as hell hope the Sox don't plan on him being an ultra contributor in the future. Point #2, Jose Valentin. He should not be playing. He sucks...horrible stats, unwillingness to adjust his swing, etc. Not sure where Ozzie stands in regards to him now. In general though, I see Ozzie heavily basically ignoring some very important stats like OBP and OPS and just basically going for Ozzie type of players with speed and the ability to bunt. Well that don't cut it, you still need guys that produce. If you can get speed with them, then hell ya you do it and everyteam needs a couple of those guys, but I think ozzie is blind to that. Hell, I think in his world he thinks a team of 9 ozzie's and a good pitching staff would win the series, when it fact it would be the worse offensive team in the history of baseball. Anyway, the main thing I want to see from the Sox this offseason is a definate long term plan and a much better system of developing prospects, mainly once they get to the major league level cause they need drastic help when it comes to handling them properly upon promotion to Chicago, imo. I also want to see someone tell Ozzie to shut the hell up at times and I'd really like to see Kenny have an assistant or two, look into the stats and what not, it can't hurt.

I'm referring to early in the year when Uribe and Willie were both doing good. Now I realize Jose was doing good at that time as well, but their was also a period where Uribe was absolutely awful and still getting a ton of playing time while every time Willie did anything he was pretty much relegated to the bench the next day. I just think Ozzie needs to stop ripping his players in the media and start talking and doing what he can to help his players. I just don't think its good when a manager is always taking shots at players. I think every once in a great while, that time of thing can really spark a player, but when its constantly happening (I'm not referring to just Willie anymore) then I think it can have a negative effect. As far as Willie goes at this point and for the past two months, he hasn't done much of anything, imo, other then his 5-5 game, but I think a good amount of that is due to the way he was handled. And ya, sometimes you have to think about winning more, but at the same time, I Think Ozzie could of done a much job handling him and other youngsters. Hell, I'm baffled by his love of Timo and Jose at this point.

And eventually...He Gawn to prison

Regardless of whether he's overpowering or not, he's saved 18 of 19 if I recall and thtas plenty good to me. However, I don't want the Sox depending on him as the closer. Thus far he isn't proven in my book and since he is old you definately can have some questions about his durability. I do think at least some of his struggles can be contributed to the fact that he has thrown a lot more this year then he ever has in Japan. And speaking of junkballers and closers, one could say Trevor Hoffman is a junker. He tops out at 90 and is awesome with his change and is one of the very best in the game when heatlhy. When Hoffman was young he had a pretty good fastball, but he hasn't had that for a long long time and has still been very effective. I don't give a damn what you throw as long as you get guys out and Shigno does that. I just want to see the Sox have other options in case and some good set up men and what not, because a strong bullpen is an integral part of the game nowadays.