Chisoxfn

Just want to say Cheat and Black Betsy, I've been reading both your blogs and they definately ROCK. Probably the best place to see stastical Sox info on the net and I really appreciate the work and effort the two of you put into your blogs

Reed is definately better then Borchard. Hell, at this point, but it is in hindsight, I'd of rather given them Olivo and Crede then Reed and I bet Seattle would of bit. But at that point I still had a lot of faith in Crede. It kills me because I'm a Crede fan, but I've definately written him off unless he has a change in attitude and starts to shorten his swing and what not.

Nah, its always different when you like a person more then just friends. At least it is for me...once that happens I go from being myself, to turning into this bumbling idiot (although some would claim that really is me, lol).

IT would definately be the Angels, but if they can't do it I'll probably root for the Cardinals, assuming that the Padres and Marlins won't make the playoffs. Howeve,r I don't want to see the Twins, Cubs, Red Sox, or Yankees win the series. I hate the Yanks, and can't stand the whiny Cub/Red Sox fans. As far as the Twins go, I absolutely love the way they play and would like nothing better to root for them, but can't, because a world series win for the Twins will probably make them more likely to draw bigger crowds and in turn increase payroll.

My offense always carried me Dan, hell, Delgado finally got off his ass and my team sucked every since I dealt Figgins, my loans speedster and it didn't start playing good until my late season pickups of Itzuris and Castillo. However, bonehead move of the year has to be me waiving Adrian Beltre.

I actually liked it. Numerous references have been made about Willie Harris and confidence and to me this is one of the very few times I've herad Willie Harris confident. To me he feels a Willie Harris type year is a good year and that since he's talking about himself, he has confidence in himself. And he's right, defensively he's been oustanding and I do think that Ozzie deserves a good portion of the blame for handling Willie like absolute s***. Hell, I can only hope Ozzie is like Baker in the sake that he's a great players manager that gets the best out of his players, because as a an actual "manager" Ozzie absolutely blows, so does Dusty Baker.

I'd go with Navarro cause he was completely awful and given a long term contract as a free agent. The only positive about Navarro was that he brought Eldred and Jose in 2000, both of whom were cogs in the 2000 season, although Valentin was over-rated that year and that season alone has kept him in the good graces of so many Sox fans to the fact that I (who can't stand Jose) have had to watch him at short for the past few years. Man will I be happy next year with someone else at short.

Oh I didn't see this thread, but by far and away its Jose Valentin. I put my remarks on him in the most underrated thread, but I'll copy and paste them into this post a little later. I've always been amazed at the following he's gotten despite the fact that he is an awful, inconsistent player who is completely selfish (he may be a good baserunner, but he thinks about hitting the long ball more then anyone else on this team). Did I mention I could strike him out. All I'd have to do is throw 3 semi decent curves and he'd have absolutely no chacne. I was shocked that it took till this year, before I saw pitchers only throw him a breaking ball...after I had been saying it since 2000. The guy absolutely can not pick up, nor can he hit a breaking ball. He has enough trouble with hanging breaking balls, but throw him a fastball and he's got a shot to make you pay, especially a middle in one.

William, I'm a little late to the whole thing, but as far as I'm concerned if you like a person, then definately be friends with them. If its the type of person you get along with, have fun hanging out with and what not, then thats exactly the type of person you should remain friends with or become friends with. Maybe she doesn't see you as a boyfriend, maybe she does. Right now she's got one in time she may not. One of my best friends is a girl and when I met her she had a boyfriend (it was a similar type situation to yours). While we've went out a few times, as of now, we just decided to stay friends and we definately have fun. Plus right now, I'm kind of along the lines of Cerb. I just want to meet people and have fun...being bogged down with a relationship right now doesn't interest me. Anyway, go for it.

Depends on the situation. First off, I feel a motivated Carl Everett is a good guy to have on this team. He provides definate leadership as well as a good left handed bat, which is definately needed. On the other end, I don't quite think of him as the answer in right field, mainly because he isn't much better then Gload defensively out there (which says something). However, if he's brought in along with someone like Jay Gibbons or what not (assuming Bmore gives up on him rather cheaply...not sure if that will happen) then I wouldn't have a problem platooning them to see which is the better man. Plus their will still be the days off for Frank and a potentially open first base, so Carl could be groomed to spell Gload over there as well or replace Gload if he struggled. I definately don't mind Everett, especially if he's in kind of a utility type role, just like Uribe. And an in shape Carl Everett is still an asset and a very good player. Maybe not an all star, but close.

Carlos Lee. Sure a lot of people talk about him, but to me he still doesn't get enough credit. He's been good offensively pretty much every year and each year he's taking steps forward and becoming a better all around ball player. Ocassionall you can question where he is in the ballgame (mentally) but even that he's improving on. You can never question his work ethic though. He took extra bp to improve his eye (mainly back with Manuel) and then worked his ass off to turn himself into a repsectable defender. He still needs work on his jumps but hell I'm even impressed with his arm. I used to whine that he had the worse arm in all of the majors (especially with his long release), but lately I've noticed more zip on the throws and a better release (maybe I'm crazy). Anyway, he's no longer underpaid or anything, but I still say a lot of Sox fans really underrate him. As far as most overrated player...by far and away Jose Valentin. People acted as if Jose being benched for Royce the Choice is the reason the Sox sucked for two years. They acted like he was an almighty god and such a reason this team made the playoffs. I got news for everyone...when you want to complain about the inconsitencies of the Sox offense, you gotta look directly at Jose Valentin. Now he isn't the only one to blame (by all means he isn't) but I've never seen a streakier hitter then him. He usually has a few hot streaks a year and then the rest of hte year he hits under the mendoza line. Sure he gets his homers, but the guys strikes out an assload and has one swing..thats it. Defensively he's improved a bit the past two years, but he's still a liability...however he is a good baserunner, although his speed is definately starting to diminish as is his range at shortstop (which used to be a plus). By and large, I'm still amazed that most of the years (less this year) very very few people would ever complain about Jose and notice that besides the homers and ocassional hot streaks, he was absolutely garbage. He also has the tendency to air the entire teams dirty laundry quite often. I can't wait to say goodbye and goodriddacne to him. I'll wish him nothing but sucess, but I never want to see him in a White Sox uniform again.

I'm definately gonna do that room pacakge. How much was it last year...If I remember it included a couple tickets to each day and wasn't too bad of a deal.

Its tough luck for Maggs, but at the same time its hard for me to get sad over the whole thing. I lvoe Maggs as a player, but from all I know he had a more then fair offer on the table. It is absolutely ridiculous for him to think or think he was worth Vladdy money and from everything I've heard thats exactly what he wanted. Bottom line, the Sox actually stepped up to the plate with a fair offer, he thought he was worth more and got hurt...its tough luck, but s*** happens I Guess. I wish him nothing but the best of luck, because he was always classy on and off the field.

Don't ask me, I've been gone on the most part the past few days and all I can do is shake my head at parts of this thread. I got no idea whats up...however, if were just talking tailgate, sounds cool to me. The one I was at earlier in the year was awesome. Anyway, I'm gonna move this offtopic cause I Think its pretty much turned off topic. Any complaints...just shoot me a PM, but i've been known to run my PM box much like the government, so expect a response in 2 to 6 weeks

Defensively I think he's pretty good, definately above average, but he's got the shot to be special, imo. The key to whether he becomes special or not is what goes on in his head. He still needs to become a mentally smarter ballplayer. However, their isn't a player I'd rather watch throw a baseball then Juan Uribe...wow does he have a cannon from short. He also does a nice job at 2nd and is good at turning the double play, imo. Offensively he still needs to be more patient, but he has extremely quick hands and power to all parts of the field. I seriously think he's got the potential to be the next Miguel Tejada.

This weekend I'm thinking of making rosters final in the weekly league. Then rosters will be frozen (you won't be able to add anyone) and then we'll have like a two week period of trades before the keepers are due. I just need to have a final list of players before yahoo erases it all.

Battling against Dan in the finals. Me and him were 3rd and 4th respectively, but for most of the season were in the top few spots. A few teams tailed off late, our teams included while 420 shot up to the top and had like an 18 game lead at the end. This weekend I'm thinking of making rosters final in the weekly league. Then rosters will be frozen (you won't be able to add anyone) and then we'll have like a two week period of trades before the keepers are due. I just need to have a final list of players before yahoo erases it all.

For me, I'd start him in the Kannapolis rotation, but thats just me. While he was injured earlier in the year, I also think the Sox rushed him and he would be better fit in Kanny's rotation for a short time before moving up. I'd put him online as a player who would have the possibility of finding Bham by the end of the year (kind of like Bmac did this year). If he produced in Kanny, he'd be ready for a quick jump.

To be honest, the MLB draft isn't quite as dependent on the high draft pick, however, it is really nice to have a shot at one of the elite players for once. On the flipside, until they allow trades, you have to suck majorly at the big league level to get that opportunity and then typically you'll be picking that so called "elite" player for a while. I'd like to pick last in the first round for once. I should say, that the compensation thing is nice though, since now we'd just give up a 2nd round pick, which isn't quite as valuable. I doubt we'll get any compensation for Maggs, which really sucks. Had he stayed healthy, the Sox would of probably offered him arb and they would of gotten two picks for him cause he would of gotten a contract. Now they would be fools to offer him arb, because he'd probably end up accepting. I highly doubt any team is going to give him the type of money he wants. Either the Sox offer him no arb or they reach a one year deal with him (as a way to say thanks and what not) prior to the deadline to offer arb, because one that deadline passes he isn't eligible to sign with the Sox till May 1st or 15th (I forget which day). I don't see a chance in hell that they (The Sox) will risk offering maggs arb at this point because, even if the arbitrator ruled in favor of the max 20% cut, he'd still be drastically overpaid compared to what the market would pay him...meaning he'd accept. With Drew and Beltran on the market, its less likely that a team would push and take the risk of a big long term deal with Maggs at this point.

I agree with Dan, Liotta is definately a guy to watch for. He was kind of a surprise pick and MLB.com didn't seem to know much about him, heck not many scouting organizations knew much about him. However, from what I've heard he has impressive stuff, but like all youngsters he stll has a lot to learn, especially because he doesn't have much experience, despite being a college kid. I'd like to see him in full season next year in Kanny's rotation.

Gracious, its too bad tha the Barons, Hogs, and Great Falls all struggled in the playoffs.

You'd think I'd learn to spell these words right in my posts...but frankly, I think I prefer leaving myself open to these assaults on my grammar. To think, I take my english test in October that I need to pass to graduate. Oh ya, did a little research for Brice's final stats in the Olympics: .200 AVG, 3 RBI in nine games played (25 at bats). As far as his time in Bham, I don' think he played in a game or got an at bat, although I could be wrong.

Brice didn't hit .404 in the Olympics from what I know. The numbers I saw had him in the .200 range. I have it in an article from FS, talking about his promotion to Bham. However, I think Brice is one of the most underrated prospects in the organization. We may talk about him, but he has a lot of talent for a person fairly knew to baseball. His power should continue to develop and I see a lot of reasons to believe he will be a very good average hitter. As far as his defense, some have said its good, but from what I saw he had a lot to work on. However, he has a very strong arm.

But I look good everyday I just had to say something, lol.

I think he's with the Reds and Elbert is either Reds or Dodgers off the top of my head. Must of been a typo by BA. BJ is pretty raw but he started off hot and then cooled off a bit. Boatload of potential though.