Chisoxfn

Catallanato and a pitcher.

Not that drastic, usually its about a .3-.5 increase and that is me over-estimating. At the same time, he plays in a division with some pretty good offenses. Not saying he's an ace, but at 29, and when healthy he is pretty solid. I just don't write him off as a nobody pickup by the Twins, if it does happen. At the same time he coudl choke under pressure, get hurt, or what not.

I'm not saying Cooperstown, but he has been pitching pretty good. His velocity is up and he's healthy. Other then Randy Johnson, he's the best pitcher on the market. If the Sox could find a way to add him and Kendall, and their have been reports Benson could come cheaply if included with Kendall, then I think the Sox would have to think long and hard about it. Payroll wise, it would add a lot this year, plus Kendalls long term deal, which I'd hope the Pirates would be willing to pick up (around 25-35%). The Sox are losing Maggs anyway, but those two, could really put the Sox as the frontrunner to win the division, plus it keeps Benson out of the Twins hands, which is huge, imo. Right now the two teams are incredibly close to even (with maggs and Frank gone) and the way the Twins play, they win out if both teams are even talent wise (as of this point; Sox execution is still pretty crappy, imo). If they get Benson, then to me they go one up.

Mild Concussion. He wouldn't of played today anyway, Davis typically catches Garcia.

For those that keep talking about Benson and being bad (I was once one of them), I'm going to post Benson's stats. 8-8, 4.22 ERA, 132.1 INN, 137 H, 83 K, 44 BB Now those are good numbers, but you could make a case that he gives up a few more hits then innings pitched and what not. However, bust out the splits and if you take away the month of May, in which he had a 8.10 ERA and the guy has been awesome. Minus May, his worse ERA between April, June, and July is 3.31 (June). He had a 3.23 in April and a 2.08 in July. That is pretty impressive and to be honest, with the Twins about to get him, I wouldn't mind if the Sox came in offered Scho and a prospect or something along those lines to snag him (not saying it would do it, but I'd try, cause Benson on the Twins makes them a lot tougher). Now I'm going to go one tougher and give his ERA against the better teams in the NL: Atlanta - 2.25 ERA - 1 Start (Its not counting the latest start he made against them) Chicago - 1.46 ERA - 2 Starts Florida - 2.16 ERA - 1 Start Houston - 7.11 ERA - 2 starts Cardinals - 6.30 ERA - 3 starts - 2 of them were in May, where he was awful Anaheim - 1.13 ERA in one start - This is a great hitting AL Team Not too bad against the better teams in the NL, plus one good hitting AL Team.

He will be pitched to. The Sox are in this to win and beaning the leadoff batter is not what I'd call effective or wise. I do think you could see a brawl in tonights game though.

I can add to this a bit, but in yesterdays game he topped out at 96 MPH, so his velocity is definately increasing rapidly as he continues to add wait. I think eventually he could end up being consistently in the 94-96 MPH range, we'll see if I'm right though. I'm assuming the 96 MPH was an outlier at this point and that he is still consistently in the 93 MPH range. However, the fact that he got it up their says a little something in terms of him gaining MPH to his fastball. With his control, he could be pretty nasty with a plus fastball and the curve/changeup. Hell, he's already nasty, but I mean even nastier!!!!

Fox Sports Net

Well it must not be official, because Mient is still with the Twins, of course he isn't playing, which should be evidence enough. The Twins announcers are talking about it and how he's expected to be moved shortly.

According to the LA Times Hunter went ballistic on a fan in the game. According to Hunter a fan told him he was going to kill him or something.

Your pretty right on. This team is really going to have to step up its play and execute. The key is execution and they haven't been doing that the past 2 weeks or so. They can't not execute and win without having Maggs and Thomas. It was hard enough when they were healthy. I also think they need to make a move. The flaw is the system is getting rather barren at the upper levels, which is typically what teams are interested in acquiring. The Benson move is a great pickup. He is pitching like he was pre-injury of late. Plus, Mient wasn't doing crap and Morneau is a hell of a player, imo, now he has a position to play.

Happy Bday Pastime. Hope its a good one and that the Sox win

He still makes them better. I'm guessing Mient and a prospect.

Johnson has always been a quiet guy. I'm going to go out and say this is just pure speculation and bs from the papers.

Right now he gets as high as 93 MPH, but I have a pretty firm belief that when he finishes filling out he could be up in the 95 MPH zone. His fastball has decent movement and like has been mentioned many times, he has amazing control of it. He's around 200 pounds, maybe a little more, although the Sox site lists him at 180 (This is incorrect).

Unfortunately its true. Prayers go out to his family.

From some of the things I've read about his condition, I think their is probably a less than 50% chance that he comes back at all this year. It also sounds like this condition could have a long term effect on his career. It supposedly leads to arthiritis and other things that can limit mobility. I guess it all stems from his collission with Willie Harris. I know Harris has also been complaining about his leg hurting, although Ithink with him its an ankle. That injury also stems from that collission.

Ya, 710,000 for a 14 round pick. Pretty impressive stuff and I'm sure Selig is pretty ticked off about it. He was quoted in the Times today as saying he didnt' sign for the money, rather for the facilities and doctors that will help make his arm better. I think I called this one a while back Chris I mentioned how much easier it has to be rehabbing full time with the very best doctors. Has to be a loss to your favorite program though, but UNC should still pretty pretty good. First they gotta take out their rival USC team.

Ya, I have been really excited by Whisler's progress. He struggled early on and Mike and I saw him working on adding his splitter. Looked like a pitch with some potential although he was still adjusting to the release point and where he would like it to finish. It seems like that will be one of his strikeout pitches as he progresses. He's been fantastic of late though. Bmac was being BMAC again. Really interesting hearing the announcers compare him to Prior of all people. They were talking about how spectacular his control is. Seems to me like everyone that sees Bmac pitch, really quickly gets high on his potential.

Oh ya Mike, I got your email last night. Does 10 days give you enough time? You know me, I'm not a stickler for deadlines, lol. Just tell me if you need some help. I'm working on the new format and one of the main graphics is going to be for the National Minor League News, although I still need to come up with a catchy name for that, lol.

s***, he's definately going on their. I still can't get over that..freaking century mark, man that was sick. And of course our debate with Mario that yes, because he can throw 95 plus, he is automatically a prospect. I also just realized I forget FAAAAABBBBBIIIIIOOOOOO

I should add, my expiriences weren't with people from the DNC, rather people that were doing petitions, which from what I know are seperate things. The Heinz thing was rather funny. The thing I don't get is she is quoted as saying it, yet her people continue to deny it. I mean its not that big of a deal, although its incredibly funny, and I guess the whole unamerican thing could blow up, but her reactions was priceless (In a good way, I like to laugh).

Well he's gonna go to the Twins, cause the Agnels turned down the Pirates offer where they asked for Kochman and they will not trade him. The Angels on the otherhand, have entered the Randy Johnson sweepstakes. It appears it will be Ortiz, Shields, and one of their top propsects. The Angels want it to be Kochman or Santana. McPherson and Mathis are supposedly untouchable and the Dbacks want Mathis I guess.

Yep, I'll be their...already got the tickets Should be an awesome game...hopefully with all the Sox fans uniting, we can break the damn curse of the West Coast. I've seen nothing but losing in the recent series. Also, I'm guessing their aren't too many tickets available for the series, so if for whatever reason they can't get them, just pm me, and I'll see if I can help out and snag some from the people that sit near us.