Chisoxfn

Krush...just wait, our Fighting Irish are going to put up a fight with Purdue. Right now I'm feeling really confident about the upcoming game, especially with the way Quinn played in the first half. The offense still isn't their yet, but its a lot more explosive then its been and its only getting better. Defensively, the Irish are more then good, they are very good. I like the matchup against the Boilermakers and have a feeling after Saturdays game against Purdue, we'll see the Irish back in the top 25

Thread closed by me. Didn't like where it was going in regards to big time attacks. Any complaints just pm me.

Heres what I don't get, where was their probable cause. Someone must of f'd up. I don't know about the parties you guys went to when you were underage, but when I was underage we'd always stay inside. If the Cops came the person would get everyone in a room away from the door and go outside. They would give you a warning (for noise) and say if they had to come back for the noise complaint that you have to pay a fine. I think its like 150 bucks for each cop that comes the 2nd time. However, if they were like busting down the doors, you must of had people outside hammered and what not. The other rule of thumb is, when your on the street and your underage, don't have booze. If you have a cup in your hand, turn it upside down and walk. They will amost never give you a ticket. Thats what I always would do at college parties when you would go house to house and what not. While walking just turn the cup upside down and they have no reason to bother you. And do what 420 said, if a cop catches you, shut up and be polite and they are a s***load more willing to help you out. Talk s*** on them and they will do every little thing to f*** you and s***, you know what, once you start doing that you deserve whats coming to you. Sure sometimes a cop is just a dick and you can't do anything about it, but most of the time cops are just normal people doing their job...treat em with respect and you'd be amazed what they'd let you out of. I've gottne out of a lot of stuff based on just being polite to them (nothing serious or anything..just petty s***).

Disagree heavily on this. During the middle of the season after the Garcia deal and what not the Sox were constantly drawing good size crowds (i'm talking 30,000 plus) and their was a definate buzz in Chicago. JR saw this and I think he knows the stadium isn't going to prevent people from going now and that their are still a ton of Sox fans out there.

If I recall from reading Moneyball, they kind of completely about range factor. They say its better then the older methods of rating defense but that their are still way too many holes for it. I think DePodesta would do a different type of defensive rating and would judge how many runs a player would save or how many balls a certain outfielder would get that the average outfielder wouldn't. He would set a zone that an average outfielder would cover and then outs made outside that range would be consier above average or what not. They would chart it out and it seemed very time consuming and pretty high tech. Still, you have to worry about players playing different positions and like you say Rex, RF really depends on the type of pitcher. If you have a groundball staff, your shortstop is prone to have a much higher rf. Personally I think when it comes to things like that, RF can tell you some things, but bottom line if your comparing two players, watch them play about a month (go through the tapes and what not of balls hit towards them) and see how many steps they can go, what type of plays they make. Then make an evaluation.

LOL, thats where I knew the name from. I've seen the movie, but only once. Everyone tells me I need to see it again. Its been so long since I've seen it. If it helps I've seen Eight Men Out like 20 times

Yep, Gammons has done nothing but tout those deals Epstein made and how much it improved the BoSox defense. I remember Derek Lowe actually went on a hot streak following the deal. But Nomar was brutal defensively. Cabrerra is supposed to be awesome. Offensively he's had a few really good years and a few not so good years. If I'd compare him to anyone it would be Renteria. Renteria is obviously much more advanced, but I also think he's older and obviously more experienced, meaning that Cabrera has a shot to break out like Edgar did a few years back. Rent was always solid, but he definately took his game to another level about two years ago.

Name rings a bell...but I dont' have much of a memory on his hype and what not. But I'm assuming he would compare to Bobby Jenks. God if he stayed healthy and had anywhat of a brain he would be unbelievable. I've never seen sicker stuff from a guy his age (well back when I saw him about a year and a half ago).

You mean offensively or defensively? I have never seen enough of Cabrera but I know he has offensive potential, but wasn't he a gold glove guy last year?

Yep, Andy Marte. Seen him play a few times and he's really good. Braves also have Franconeour who is an outfielder. Saw him before I even knew he was a good prospect and remember writing down his name in my notebook (i bring one to the minor league games i see) and was just impressed by his ability. Then i get home and see him rated pretty highly by BA. The next year he's even higher (this year he's one of their top few prospects).

Agree with you at that, if he is at 2nd base all year, he will have a shot at the gold glove..no doubt in my mind at that either. For cripes sakes Adam Kennedy is supposedly the favorite. He's solid and all, but holy s***, Uribe makes him look like nothing from what I've seen from him at 2B.

Ya, Wright would be that guy this year. But then again, they did take Cruz from the Cubs and he's been pitching very well this year. That was just an absolute steal. I still don't get why the hell the cubs gave up on him so quick.

Uribe is legit at shortstop. Ozzie has made a couple refernces to him being smarter, but from what I can tell he is usually heads up. I saw him make two mental mistakes all year off the top of my head (i'm sure there were more though). He has good range, not amazing, but good. More importantly when he uses his range he is able to get to the ball and throw the guy out. He isn't one of those shortstops that makes the diving stop but when he throws it, can't get enough on it and therefor the runner ends up beating the play out (still a nice defensive play...just not a finished one). I don't think he's a gold glover, but just a notch below. With time I'd say he could be a top 6 defensive shortstop. His arm and how accurate it is really is amazing and he's good with the glove (doesn't seem to butcher many balls). Of course I'm comparing him to watching Jose. Then again I see Itzuris and Eck play a lot and while I love Itz, I'd say Juan has the ability to be better...although he isn't better defensively at this point.

Some options I could see: Crede and Marte (Ozzie doesn't seem too thrilled with Marte, but at 1.25 mill, I think you'd have to get a pretty good deal to move Marte). Crede and Garland - I think a deal like this could work for a team still a year to two from competing, but has a player or two that may not fit into their plans, but are still good to very good. When talking with Danman earlier today, he suggested that the Braves should go after Garland and use him as a reclamation project (like they do with so many guys). Crede and Konerko or Lee - Teams would be interested, but I think most likely would be Crede/Garland.

Out of curiosity, what would his ERA be minus the few starts he had while pitching pretty banged up. Heck, I still think he's pitching hurt because his velocity is way down compared to his first few starts with the team.

Ya, Seattle wanted the deal done and I think ownership told Bavasi get it done or move on. The Yanks had a strong offer on the table and Bavasi was playing both sides. Following the agreement between Kenny and Bavasi, Billy called up Cashman told him what he was getting and wanted to see if he could play the Yanks into giving up a little more but the Yanks said they didn't couldn't give up more (realistically I think it was more along the lines that they didn't have anyone else that would interest the Mariners). In fact, I think Kenny kind of swooped in and stole the deal off the Yanks plate cause many in the Yanks organization would tell you and were quoted as saying they figured he was going to be in New York in the next 24 to 48 hours. I think that situation helped tip Kenny's hand. But hwne I see what Kris Benson got Pitt and Victor Zambrono got Tampa I think back and go the Sox did pretty decent. Heck, the Dodgers paid a hefty price to get Penny who is obviously better then Garcia, but how much better????

Ya, I remember the quote pretty well. Kenny said something like "we are in a playoff race and we can't afford to give up two regular players, two starters. Two guys we believe in". He then talked about how Seattle wanted to give them Crede and Olivo and that KW was going to do it, but he wanted to negotiate. Then the 3rd player name came in...Morse and KW still was holding off a bit, saying he needed that window (this deal sounded like it was done at this point or pretty close to it) and then Seattle said hey, how bout you give us Reed and keep Crede and make the deal now. Sox felt confident, pulled the trigger and the rest is history. Now I am not 100% that if Crede was involved that Morse would of went, but the main piece was it was either Crede or Reed. In hindsight, I'd rather have Reed at this point, but who the hell would of known that and Crede can still prove many of us wrong. However, I still like the deal and think Freddy has what it takes to be a front line pitcher in Chicago, although their is definately reason to be at least semi concerned, considering his ERA on the southside. I feel sorry for Borchard. Such a quality individual, but man has he been awful. I knew he was going to be overmatched, but never did I think it would be this bad.

I dunno, but I've been known to get into grooves with certain phrases or expressions. They last a month or two, then I find a new one It mainly stems from my laziness to type more, I figure people get the gist of it. The other thing I'm saying a whole lot is "crap". Basically in regards to all the stuff I've been stuck doing as of late. Not that you asked, lol.

If he gives an indication that he is making adjustments to his swing and what not, I have no problem. While I've been very harsh on Crede lately, I still like the guy and hope he can turn it around. He plays a good 3rd base, has power and isn't really a stathead looking for the hit. He seems like a guy willing to move the guy over and what not for the team. I just hate his long swing. You throw him a fastball above the belt and he ain't going to catch it if its 93 plus, imo, or at least not often.

I was assuming the Sox would a sign him before going to arbitration (i have heard they already have a "handshake" deal) and that he would take a bit of a pay cut. Otherwise I bet they offer him arb, he accepts and the Sox put in a bid at the max pay cut, which I think is 20% of what he was currently making (ie a 20% paycut). But your right Rex, very very very few players actually get pay cuts via arbitration. The only way they do is when they end up going to another team via free agency.

I don't think Frank is. I think they pretty much deferred all his money for once his contract is up. Thats what his renegotiation did. I could be wrong though. I'm trying to look up the arbitration rules, but I swear you could only double your salary at the most. I didn't know about Davis, but for a guy that struggled to hit, I just didn't see him get a pay increase and figured a little bit of a discount would of been realistic. Another person that was hard to guess was Garland. I didn't know what the Sox would do for some of their younger players since they aren't arbitration eligible, which means they can basically offer them what they want. Either way, I think were pretty close and to be honest unless they are going to go 80 mill, I can't see them filling all they want to without dealing Konerko or Lee. I agree with you on them adding at least one more outfielder (I think after that Everett and Gload are going to get a shot in LF if Lee goes). Timo should be gone. Borchard may not be amazing, but he is cheap and is versatile off the bench. I still think the big changes come with at least one new starter (two if Garland is dealt), one good reliever, and a few middle infielders (I don't see Willie starting next year, but Juan will and I see Crede gone).

Oh, my bad on Konerko...I was thinking he was 8.75 if traded, but it must be 9.25 if traded? As far as Rowand goes, he made like 350 this year and unless the rules changed I thought you couldn't have more then a doubling of salary via arbitration, which would mean he goes to 700 K. I could be wrong though. I'm gonna edit my salary post though so its more accurate.

Ya, I'm sure part of it is stadium induced but I also think the high numbers are at least semi reflective of our crappy pitching and power hitting.

Is he going to be 100% by the start of the season? I've always been a Williamson fan, but if I think right, this is his second seriuos arm injury he's had. He's a very good reliever when healthy though. It be really nice if the Sox could get him at a bargain, but considering they will probably only add 1 to 2 relievers max, I don't think I'd want that one reliever being a guy coming off an injury.

Ya, but wouldn't you not count the buyout in this years salary since technically it is a decision that won't be made till the next season? Although I would be shocked if the Sox exercised his 2006 option.