Chisoxfn

It should be a sweet deal, but I'd like to see it named US Cellular Presents Comiskey Park or something along those lines. JR said he will still use the Comiskey name somehow, so that will be interesting to be seen. Its good if they make the stadium look like it did in those photos that came up a month or two ago.

I dunno, Comiskey was built very cheap when it comes to a new stadium. I think it was like 85 million or something or maybe it was 135 million. Either way, after all these renovations, it still will be way cheaper then almost all the new parks that were built. Camden Yards was another cheap park. One was 85 mill the other was 135, maybe someone with a better memory then me can tell me which is which.

Remember, Adkins does have some quality pitches, they are just all hard. If he can learn an offspeed pitch, he could turn into a solid reliever. As far as Webster and Reed go, both seem to be thought of as good top of the lineup hitters. I could see both of them making Comiskey. Reed will be the first one here though. Webster is much younger and will take more time. Both are very good players, imo. We could see Reed as early as next year, since college players tend to move through the systems much quicker.

Person is one guy out there available for cheap that I'd still love to sign. I think he'd be a great reliever/starter and would be a great guy in case Rauch faltered. I know we have Loiza and Heredia, but Person is a step up over them too.

They must have some type of reports from there, getting interviews from the newcomers. Thats just a guess though.

If anyone will be ticked at Buerhle, I have to believe it is JR. He's the one paying the contracts and throwing the money out and when he heres things like that I'm sure he gets upset. KW has to know that this is a business and players will say what they will. Still, I think Mark should stay quiet on this issue because he's stuck in Chicago for a while. I think he is happy here though and for all we know its a ploy to get a better contract. Who knows, but I'm not going to worry about any of it because we have him for a while and a lot can happen in the next couple years.

The big thing is, the Sox have already utlized a ton of their prospects and from what I hear and believe, this next wave is going to be the best yet. Arms like Honel, Malone, Rauch, etc are top notch and the Sox also have some hitting prospect. Reyes still has work to do, but he's got a lot of raw ability as do guys like Casey Rogowski. I remember a year ago, before his injury, people were wondering what we'd do with Konerko cause they thought he was so good. I think he had a wrist injury, which is something that really effects your swing and stats, but he should be better this year as well. One of my favorite thing about the Sox is that we get to read and hear about prospects and then actually see them at the next level. Teams like the Yanks hype them up, but never do you get to see them. I love watching the prospects grow and develop and then seeing it materialize on the field.

Are they dumping the name Comiskey all together? I'm hoping that stays in there somehow. Now I want to see that homer porch there by the start of next season.

We'll be starting that type of stuff near the beginning of the season and then will continuosly update it every month during the season. The list will look much different this year, cause the Sox have a lot more prospects down in the lower levels and that list didn't include many of them.

How could the Twins possibly be #1. They lost some key members, while the Angels brought everyone back, The Yankees rebuilt a bit, so did the Sox as well as other teams. Its alright though, we'll prove him wrong; cause who wins the series is all that matters, and its going to be the SOX

If this means they build that homer porch, then I'm all for it

Message is now pinned till the end of Soxfest. Hope everone there has a blast!!!!

I'm not too high on Suppan. He does one thing though, and thats pitch innings. Right now I'm pretty happy with our rotation. Finley, Rogers or Stewart are the only guys I can see possibly taking Rauch's job.

I think Miles deserves a shot this spring. If he plays great, then he should be up. The one problem is, the Sox seem to need a backup centerfielder and Harris is one that can fit that bill while still playing 2nd. HSC's also right about Miles never getting a shot, because he did have Biggio in front of him, and if I recall he was with Houston pretty much his whole career. If he rips the cover off the ball in spring or dominated down in Charlotte, then he should be with the Sox.

The more I work on my preview article, the more I think the Barons could be really fun to watch. They are going to have an awesome starting rotation, that will be lefty dominated. I've never seen a team or system with as many lefties as the Sox. The offense will be what it comes down to, but whenever you have a reall good pitching staff and a great coach like Wally Backman, you got a good shot at competing.

The thing is, Old Tigers stadium was one of the coolest parks I'd ever been. I even think Wrigley is a pretty nice park. CW, since you live in that area, Were the Tigers fans upset they got rid of the stadium?

Its amazing considering how well the A's did even though they were in the toughest division in baseball, although some could argue that the NL West is the toughest. Either way, Oakland is one team I never want to play, cause they own us. There offense isn't near as fiersome as it used to be though. There rotation is still good, but they made a mistake moving Lidle, but they do have Lilly, so they got 4 solid guys.

Baggs, Curt Schilling is one guy that comes to my mind about coming back from a previous surgery. Of course he was fully developed at the time. Eric Gagne seems to of done pretty good recovering from his very early surgery that occured in the minors. As far as Finley goes, there is now one thing that scares the heck out of me about him and thats what kind of an influence he would be in the clubhouse. I don't know if this is true, as its from his ex wife, but I was reading a magazine and they were interviewing her about the whole incident. First she said Finley gets high before every start and that he's been taking steroids for quite some time. Secondly, she said Finley hit her first and was very abusive. Don't know what to believe, cause I never heard bad things about Finley and you know after that previous incident that she'd be mad. I like Finley a lot as a pitcher, and being that I'm near Anaheim, where Finley pitched for almost his entire career and I've never heard one person say a bad thing about him.

Column: Shades of 2000? Part Two: The Bullpen By: Matt Michel

Derrek Wheeler. He's a Redshirt Freshman. It was cool, he got in a couple minutes at the end of the blowout. Since he's a freshman/walk on he doesn't play too much yet. All I know is they whooped UCI. On Saturday I'm gonna go see them play Long Beach State. Ya, Cotts should be pretty good. I've heard good things about him. Also, it would be sweet to see your stuff up.

My buddy plays basketball for the Gauchos. I'm going to see him play tonight as they are playing back in our hometown against UC Irvine.

Welcome aboard Jim. Its really awesome to here from you. I know one of our regular posters, HSC, goes to Bham every year for a week or so and watches the players and says how much fun it is seeing the future Sox play. Hopefully your right about the Barons. I'm writing something up on them right now (Just taking a break from it) and from what I can see the one weakness will be having players with much experience in AA back. I do think the rotation should be pretty good, especially with Malone, Ulacia (IF he's in AA to start the season) and You at the top. Its not too often you see 3 lefties at the front of the rotation and being a lefty myself, there is nothing I like more then good lefties.

Good thinking, CW or anyone else...please go tell him we think he should get Beltran

Because he will make a lot of money this year. Look what the Expos got for a Cy Young Candidate in Colon. They got stiffs. Kansas is going to get mainly stiffs in return as well. Rowand isn't really a stiff, Stewart is a quality prospect that can immediately start, and Ginter could go to the pen. Pretty fair to me. No one wants to take on payroll this year. Then look at Millwood, who went for nothing at all cause he made money. I don't know what Beltran will make, but my guess is it will be a good amount this year.

I think he's there for sure on Friday, and he may go the other two days.