Chisoxfn

Damn, thats a hell of an idea.

Damn, thats a great pic Steff

I also forgot to add that this team would need a different manager to play that style of baseball. I could careless that Manuel says that the type of manager he is. He had six years to show me that and he hasn't. Backman is the guy I want running that team. To me that team has a few guys that can hit homers and speed all around them. Most of those guys are fundementally sound and having a coach that preaches the little things will force the others to be fundementally sound or get traded. Damn would I love to see those things happen and I don't really think any of those deals are far fethced. Yanks want a closer and can spend money. Red Sox could use a starter and good reliever.

Welcome aboard Farmio. Glover has been awful as of late. He's kind of went into the doghouse as White has came out of it. Two years ago Glover had great movement, now I never see it. I don't have a clue what happened to him.

I'm lost

Heck if the Sox are going to dump Konerko's salary on anyone, it would be the Yanks that could maybe take it. Weaver does make some money so you could deal Konerko and Koch for Weaver and a prospect (Juan Rivera or maybe an infield prospect). Sox cut payroll and find ways to afford to reup with Buehrle, etc.

Weaver is old school. I'd love having him on this team. He also has phenomenal stuff. If the Sox could add Weaver and Ponson for next year, then move Colon for our new shortstop (Sanchez) and Trot Nixon and maybe Fossum (If you throw in Colon I think you can do it). Then the Sox can move Jose for a good relief prospect (I'd think they could get that). Then you really have a great foundation for next years club and the payroll would be about the same if not a little less. It would be great if they could unload Konerko's contract though or even Carlos Lee. I wouldn't be against moving either of them once those other trades go down (If you have Nixon, Harris and Ordonez I won't complain; Borchard and Reed waiting in the wings; Webster and Co. a few years later). Then of course if there is the potential to do a DJ and something for Castillo swap go for it. Not saying that will happen. But think of this rotation and tell me it wouldn't be awesome and very young Buehrle Loaiza Weaver Ponson Garland Closer: Dan Wright/Damaso Marte Pen: Ring, Munoz, Fossum, Ginter, etc (Rather weak, but sign two vets for a mill a piece or so and its pretty good). I love Dan Wright, but like some say he'd make a great closer, even though I think he's a heck of a starter. Lineup Castillo or Jimenez Nixon Thomas Ordonez Daubach Crede Olivo Sanchez Harris Not as many poppers, but damn good speed and a much better mixture. This isn't even to say what the Sox could get for Carlos and Konerko. Don't think PK has much value, Carlos does have some value. Could land a good reliever (Mota, etc) or could grab another outfielder that fits in a different way (Better fundementals), could go for pitching prospects. Konerko will be for a high priced guy and maybe a prospect.

Well if you acquire Weaver, you could then ship Colon or prospects. I'd use Weaver as a plan for next year most likely. Build this team for next year and hope they could somehow come back this year.

If the Rangers deal Urbina for Weaver or if thats possible, what would people think of a Weaver for Koch trade? I think you can never have too many starters and for the pen you can move guys from the rotation there, etc. I really think all Weaver needs is out of the Yanks system.

s***, if that were to happen I'd be excited.

Mainly because those aren't worthy numbers of a 3 hole hitter (The .250 28 hr ones.)

I tend to agree with you. So many catchers get picked high and 99% of them fail. Catchers can look like the most talented guys in the world and they still fail. Of course the same is of position players and pitchers, but not quite as high of a rate. There is a lot of risk to drafting a catcher high. Thats why I would of liked taking Powell who fell and just paid the money and chanced it there.

If the Sox are going to trade Buehrle, trade him to the Padres. Padres have some excellent prospects and are going to want to add a few playerse for next year. They will be one team that could be buying at the break, when it comes to getting young talented players. I think a package of Konerko and Buehrle could get the Sox a lot in the way of Greene, Klesko, and one to two of their best pitchers (I'd love Jake Peavy but I doubt they do it). Still, I'm not a fan of dealing Buehrle. I'm a huge Buehrle fan and we have him a long time. Not many lefties have or will win 40 games by the time they are 23.

Lol I know, I have contacted all the minor leauge teams and gotten passes. They told me to call them when I'm going to get to games and they'll set me up. Only thing is I didn't call them to tell them about this for some reason. Sometimes I Get to slow with things and then a few days ago I was like aw crap, its this week and got on the phone. I promise to do better next year. This was my first time at a minor league game. Also on the roadtrip I'm gonna be getting tons of footage. I figure this is a great way for those that only read about guys to see them and put their face on them. In terms of closeness, it was really cool. I saw a few members of the media and I don't even know what they were doing, cause none of them were on the field. They were all standing back farther then me for some reason. Rancho Cucamunga had a very fan friendly stadium and it was an absolute blast. The bullpen was right down the line and it was by the bleachers. The nice thing was the bleachers were elevated and there was this little stair section that took you down to the field right next to the bullpen where you could stand there and watch the guy pitch without getting in anyones way. One of the nicest parks I've been to. It ranks there with quite a few of the spring training parks in Arizona. I also picked up all the autographs of the Carolina team. Usually I don't go for auto's but they had an hour set aside soley for that. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the California teams as well. Two players that I wanted to see were missing from the game: Jeremy Reed and Grienke (Royals top prospect). I'm assuming Grienke was promoted as well. Either way it was an absolute blast and for those of you that haven't been to a minor league game, if you have a team in your area, I say check it out. Its a huge difference from major league baseball because you can sit real close without spending a ton of money. Kind of a great alternative if you have a huge family and can't afford to get good seats at a major league game. But I guess thats why minor league baseball is growing so much. I thought they would have more gimmicks at the game, but they didn't. The mascots they had were pretty funny though.

I was supposed to get media credentials, but I didn't call in in time, so I ended up being just there as a fan. I'm assuming what I did was legal. No one bothered me while filming. I tried telling Ruddy Yan about being in Birmingham and talking with him, but he didn't really understand what I was saying. Well I think he understood it, but didn't pick up on it. I'm assuming he isn't very comfortable talking to fans in English. Ryan Wing seemed like a really nice guy while Honel had a cocky type of image but he was real nice as well. When I told him I expect to see him in Chicago soon his face lit up and he said how excited he was to be up there and he seems to think he can make it there real quick. After seeing that knuckle curve and the movement on the fastball, I'm a believer.

Cubs have a good record, but I wouldn't say the Sox would get crushed in the first round. Just like with the Cubs, the Sox have very good pitching and if good pitching gets into the playoffs anything can happen. Not saying the Sox are a playoff team, cause until they prove they can do the small things they aren't in my mind. The same goes in my mind for the Cubs. Both teams have things to work on, but the Cubs are in better shape as of right now, mainly cause their pitching has been BETTER.

I like Pietrus. Like you say what JayWill did was wrong and stupid, but I hope he's alright. I do think he's a good guy and is very sorry about it. Of course thats in hindsight and I'm sure once his life is out of danger there will be a lot of angry fans. Reports were that the Bulls would of dealt Williams to the Sonics for two first round picks. Oh well, now I can only wish Jay Will the best, not only in his recover from the injuries, but hoping he can make it in the NBA as well.

Typically on newer monitors you just leave them on and it doesn't make a difference. The monitor goes up and a little lite stays on so when your turn it on it powers back up. If you don't have a newer monitor, I don't have a clue if its possible. I don't think it is though.

Soriano doesn't deserve to be there.

Ah, if it isn't the great camera man Gary who filmed Meaux

Note: Please tell me if the video files work, as I have no idea whether I uploaded them properly or not. The images in this are rather big so it may take a bit for them to load. I'm going to resize them but I just cleared my harddrive so I don't have any graphic editing software on there just yet, but will get it updated. All Camera work was done by me with the exception of Ryan Meaux, who was done partially by my friend as I was talking to the person next to me. I don't have speakers on my computer, so I apologize if any bad language is on there as sound does get picked up on the videos. Enjoy If this works well, I'm going to try and do something like this on almost every player I see on the roadtrip and take a ton of discs with me to put them on the camera.

FutureSox Goes to the Carolina/California League All Star Game By Jason Gage June 25, 2003 FutureSox.com On Tuesday, June 25th the best of the Carolina and California League met in Rancho Cucamunga, California at the epicenter, home of the Rancho Cucamunga Quakes (High A – Angels). Represent on the Carolina league roster were four Winston Salem Warthogs: Ryan Wing (LHP), Kris Honel (RHP), Ryan Meaux (LHP), and Ruddy Yan (2nd). Outfielder Jeremy Reed also got the invite, but was promoted to Birmingham a few days before the game. Prior to the game there was an All Star Fan Fest that included a pitching contest and a homerun derby. The pitching contest consisted of a wood board with a few holes cut out of it at home plate and the pitchers would get points for throwing it through the hole (points varied depending on the hole). Ryan Meaux took part in this contest and got one point in five pitches. The Sox had no representatives in the home run derby, but lefty Luke Scott put on a show, cranking out seven home runs in the first round. He eventually went on to win the contest. Scott is from the Kingston Indians of the Carolina league and hit several bombs, one of which cleared the scoreboard in right field. While the festivities before the game were fun, they didn't out-do a very well played and exciting game in which the Carolina League won 5-3. Ryan Wing was the starting pitcher and he picked up the victory. Wing got into a two out jam in the first inning (Hit and Walk) but got out of it and wouldn't give up another hit (2 INN, 1 HIT, 1 BB, 1 HBP). Steven Shell (R.C. Quakes – Angels) started for the California league team and took the loss. Shell gave up two runs in the second inning. The MVP, Andy Marte, ripped an RBI double in the inning. Sox farmhand Kris Honel pitched a hitless seventh (one walk). Another Sox Ryan Meaux picked up the save despite a rocky start to the ninth inning. Meaux gave up a solo homer to the first batter and then the next batter reached on an error. That was all Meaux could stand as he induced the next better into a double play and then struck out the final batter to end the game. My Experience: This was the first minor league game I had ever attended and I had a great time. It was very cool getting to see the White Sox prospects up close and in person. The game was very fun and the facilities in Rancho Cucamunga were state of the art. I'd rate it up there as one of the better smaller parks I’ve been to (Cactus League Stadiums). I now know why minor league baseball is becoming more popular. The stadium was very fan friendly and fans don't have to spend a lot of money to sit up close. The players were also very friendly, signing in an autograph session for an hour before the game (All players signed) as well as signing before and after the game for those that were interested. The stadium also had raised bleachers down the left and right field lines, which allowed fans to stand right by the bullpen and watch the pitchers warm up without getting in the fans way – very cool as it allowed me to get great shots and video footage of all the Warthogs pitchers (See Below). For those that have never caught a minor league game, I advise you to check one out. What I saw: Ryan Wing was the first pitcher I saw warming up. He was very friendly and had a very awkward delivery while doing his long toss. He seemed to stop his motion at a few different points. After watching him go into the bullpen and throw, I realized this must be a pre-game technique he does to keep his mechanics straight. Stuff wise Wing had a lot of sinking action on his pitches. The fastest pitch I saw him throw (Stadium had a Radar) was 90 MPH. The majority of his fastballs seemed to be around the 86-87 MPH range and had excellent movement. Wing does a nice job changing his speeds as his slowest off-speed pitch was 69 MPH. He seemed to really vary the speed of his off-speed pitches as they would go anywhere from 80 MPH to 69 MPH. The one weakness I noticed in Wing was his control. He's a typical lefty who gets guys out I saw Kris Honel earlier at the autograph session. Mentioned to Honel that I expect to see him on the South Side real soon and his face lit up. The kid seems really confident and excited to make it to Chicago. From what I gathered, he really wants to play in front of his friends (From the Chicago Area) and family. Later on when I saw Honel in the pen I noticed how big of a guy he is. At 6'6 he has plenty of height, but he also had good size (strong). When I saw Honel an immediate comparison to Kerry Wood's body-type came to mind. I always heard Honel was thin, but it looks like he's addressing those concerns by hitting the weight-room. Seeing him pitch was something. Early in his session Honel was flashing the knuckle curve (See Honel Knuckle Curve Picture on Bottom of the Page) and it had incredible movement. The ball had great drop and I couldn't get over how easy he through it and how much control he had over it. Then Honel started throwing his fastball (Clocked in the low to mid 90’s) and that had great movement. He could cut the ball both ways and they had good action for a pitcher that throws hard. After seeing Honel in person, I can see why he's one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, and he's now #1 in my mind in the organization (ahead of Borchard). Ryan Meaux was the last of the pitchers I saw. Meaux is much shorter then Wing (6'4) and Honel (6'6) and isn't a velocity guy, much like Wing. The big thing that stood out with Meaux was he seemed to have a good feel for pitching. He had good control and the ball had movement. He didn't really throw many breaking pitches and seemed to be a fastball-change kind of guy. I don't know whether Meaux can make it in the majors, but he is a solid minor league pitcher. Ruddy Yan was the leadoff hitter. When I saw Yan at the autograph session he had a huge smile on his face (Had it the entire time) and seemed to really be enjoying himself. At the plate Yan didn't have a good game. He struck out in his first at bat, flied out in his second (looked like he upper-cut it; I was hoping to see him slapping the ball everywhere) and then grounded into a fielders choice (player was thrown out at home; I thought it was a questionable call). Once on the base-paths I finally got to see Yan run. The next better hit a grounder and Yan took off for 2nd. This kid has amazing speed and quick acceleration. He really reminded me of Rickey (In regards to great acceleration). After that Yan was taken out. He looked to have good fundamentals fielding the ball and his throws were accurate. Multimedia: Below are pictures and movies that were taken by me at the game. The pictures are a little big (Size wise) but I’m going to resize them pretty soon so they load faster. I apologize for the video clip of Ruddy Yan. The sun was right there and I was far away so it didn’t come out all that good. Kris Honel Honel Knuckle Curve Honel Talking to Fans Honel Playing Catch (1) Honel Playing Catch (2) Honel Playing Catch (3) Honel Playing Catch (4) Honel Pitching (Only Got Part of his Face) Video Footage of Kris Honel (Part 1) Video Footage of Kris Honel (Part 2) Ryan Wing Ryan Wing Jogging Ryan Wing Jogging(2) Ryan Wing Doing Long Toss(1) Ryan Wing Doing Long Toss (2) Ryan Wing Warming Up(1) Ryan Wing Warming Up(2) Ryan Wing Warming Up(3) Ryan Wing During the Game(1) Ryan Wing During the Game (2) Ryan Wing During the Game (3) Ryan Wing During the Game (4) Ryan Wing During the Game (5) Ryan Wing During the Game (6) Video Footage of Ryan Wing (Part 1) Video Footage of Ryan Wing (Part 2) Video Footage of Ryan Wing (Part 3) Video Footage of Ryan Wing (Part 4 - In Game Footage) Ruddy Yan Ruddy Yan Jogging Ruddy Yan Throwing Ruddy Yan Throwing (2) Ruddy Yan With a Bat (1) Ruddy Yan With a Bat (2) Ruddy Yan During the Game (1) Ruddy Yan During the Game (2) Video Footage of Ruddy Yan (In Game - Not Very Clear) Ryan Meaux Ryan Meaux During Warm-Ups Video Footage of Ryan Meaux

Sorry about the gigantic size of that. Heres a link that makes it easier to see Honel Knuckle Curve

Ok, heres a picture I got of Honel and his knuckle curve. I'm going to put something together either later tonight or tomorrow at the latest with all the graphics and a writeup on it at FutureSox and I'll post a carbon copy of it here. Ignore this post, I'm going to make links below and go with that

This is the same guy that rejected a trade to the Yankees if I recall.