Chisoxfn

I'd go for Salty. He has the most offensive upside of the group, imo. That said I would also be ok with Max Ramirez. I'd prefer both of those guys to Kris Davis.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ May 17, 2010 -> 08:25 AM) The rotation we have isn't all that great. Buerhle has been bad since the middle of last year. Same with Floyd. Peavy hasn't been anything near an Ace, much less an All-star type pitcher. It can be done, but you are praying for a ton of players to play significantly above what they ddi this year. I think that is a big risk, and not the way to build the team. Thats just my opinion though. Ya, I'm not concerned with our pitching. I'd actually be ok moving Buehrle, but I'm not dealing Floyd/Peavy/Danks. I'd still keep Mark though too, unless you get a strong offer from some club. And Floyd has not been bad since the middle of last year. The guy was dominant after his slow start up until his hip started bugging him.

While in London, what are the key things to see/do based upon people's personal experiences? Same question about Paris?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 17, 2010 -> 07:55 AM) Roasted, unsalted almonds are pretty awesome too. I'd probably say Roasted, unsalted Almonds, pitsachio's, and walnuts are my 3 favorite nuts.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 17, 2010 -> 07:01 AM) Why is it tough to be competitive over those years again? We have the core of our rotation signed long term including a former Cy Young award winner. We have a good middle infield and what looks to be an All-Star caliber CF'er. Thats what you call the CORE of a team. You then add pieces to that as see fit to compete. We have a young starter in the minors, a catcher, a 3B and maybe an OF'er. Thus you have a core, young contributors and space for a vet free agent signing. Thats a competitive team right there for the next 3 years at least. I agree with you. And I think that is what makes everything tough. If they rebuild, they need to do it where they maintain the ability to utilize the rotation they have and some of the pieces they have. It can be done, it won't be easy necessarily, but it can be done.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 17, 2010 -> 07:28 AM) Thornton has an option for 2011 correct? IMO, the only reason to move him is if you're worried about his elbow now. He's not likely to be worth that much less next year than this, you could even get more value out of him by turning him into a closer after moving Jenks, and worst case scenario I'd be happy to offer him arbitration after 2011. Excellent point. It just depends on whether the Sox see themselves competitive in 2011. If they don't, I'd think long and hard about moving him now so that you can get the prospects now in the rebuilding process. But again, if we move him to closer and he kicks ass (which he should), than his trade value would definitely increase. I think a team knowing they have him for another year at a bargain makes him a very very very big chip. In fact, I could see the Sox getting 3 of the top 5 prospects out of an organization.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 15, 2010 -> 03:25 PM) About 80 of Jones PA have been as an OF. The Sox DH's have 12 RBI, with 6 coming in one game. (Quentin) The problem with this rotating DH is you are always playing someone who isn't hitting at all. If you aren't used to it, DHing isn't a very easy adjustment for everyone. They need offense. They can be stubborn and refuse to admit they are wrong and watch the season and the fanbase melt away or they can do something about it. Its time. A rotating DH can be smart, if you have 4 or 5 guys that are decent hitters and at least one of those guys has some flexibility defensively, but when part of a rotating DH are guys that shouldn't start (even in the case of a platoon situation), than you have a serious issue.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 17, 2010 -> 07:18 AM) The only players that need to be traded (in my mind) are A.J., Konerko, and Jones. You might as well shop Putz too, and i can't see Jenks really fetching anything, unless he's a piece in the package. I'd DFA Williams, Vizquel and Kotsay, and just restock the 25-man with younger guys. Note: Not Danks 2 or Viciedo. Not Yet. Thornton, Putz, and Jenks are all options as well. Thornton has one year left on this team before he gets expensive and at that point, you have to ask yourself whether it is worth it to pay huge money to a reliever. Now Thornton might be the best lefty reliever in the game, but he should command 10M a year and I don't think I'd pay my closer 10M a year. Jenks probably has little value, if any, but if you can save money great. Putz, well, if he can pitch decently he should have significant value. Set-up men tend to be big time commodities at the deadline. And despite Putz ERA, his periph's look pretty solid. It should be pointed out, if the Sox make the above moves, they clearly won't contend in 2010. In fact, they'd be downright awful.

Great story.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 17, 2010 -> 06:04 AM) Charles Oakley, who's close friends with LBJ, thinks he'll go to the Bulls or Heat. Those would be his two best options, imo. Playing with Wade is a pretty damn good incentive if I do say so myself. I could easily argue that the Heat offer the best chance for Lebron to win. Plus they have a much better coach and could always have the option of letting Riley coach again (which might be attractive to LBJ). Bulls offer a very good chance to win as well and the bigger marketplace. Miami offers the great chance at winning plus a real nice city with much better weather and of course no state income tax.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ May 17, 2010 -> 05:21 AM) I rarely cook, but when I do I am actually quite good. It's actually a skill that is pretty nice to have. ^^^^ That

I'm going to piggy back a bit off this. Also, Sonix, I'll be there, barring volcano issues, in about 3 weeks for 10 days. England and France. So I'll pass along some info of what I liked, didn't like, etc.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ May 17, 2010 -> 05:10 AM) Hostel Gotcha. I was thinking Hostel, but when he specifically mentioned not staying in a brothel, I thought maybe he was referring to some sort of personal experience or funny story he had heard of.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 16, 2010 -> 11:26 AM) Andre Eithier is leading MLB with a .392 average and 38 RBI and is at the top of the NL with 11 HR. He broke his pinky finger in batting practice. Not sure yet if it's a DL trip or not. Thats a bummer, guy is having a triple crown start to the season.

Fullerton swept the rival dirtbags on the road this weekend to clinch a tie of the Big West title and clinch a postseason birth. 19th consecutive year the Titans have reached the postseason (3rd longest streak in the nation). It is also there 32nd postseason bid in the colleges 36 year history of playing baseball. Record climbs to 34-14. Pretty crazy considering at one point this year, the Titans won 2 out of 3 to bring there record above .500 to 12-11. Titans are 22-3 in there last 25 games. Miami and Florida State are the teams with more consecutive post-season births, both with 30+ seasons in a row.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ May 17, 2010 -> 01:05 AM) Whatever you do... don't travel to Slovakia to visit a brothel. :-/ I hear a story coming?

I happened to be able to listen to the games this weekend and Wimpy sounded real good. Condolences to DJ and his family.

I don't think AJ will bring the Sox much other than cash savings, but I could be wrong. Maybe you can get one of the Rangers young catchers that they haven't been able to develop, not sure. But I think now would be a good time to move AJ and consider letting Flowers try it up here. Probably a bit too soon as Flowers still has adjustments to make, but it is what it is.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 16, 2010 -> 04:58 PM) With all the ripping of the White Sox hitters and deservedly so, how come this guy gets a free pass? It most likely will be the second year in a row he's going to go into June with an ERA hovering around 7.00. Maybe he pitches better later, maybe not, but these games still count. If Jose Contreras put up the same numbers people would have been calling for the White Sox to eat his contract. Gavin has sucked this season. The stuff is there, the defense behind him hasn't been great and he's given up a lot of cheap hits. I'm not concerned about Gavin. Clearly his production has been disappointing, but he's the least of my worries. I said as much last season too.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ May 14, 2010 -> 11:38 AM) Yeah he seems to be a 25 guy now for a lot of people in the prospect industry. Trout was one of the guys I really liked. That said, I had zero problem with the Mitchell pick and I think a lot of scouts were drooling over Mitchell late last year in his pro debut. No one could have expected his injury.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ May 14, 2010 -> 10:16 AM) Continued... Jameson Taillon is the big name here, despite a so-so spring he's probably the no.2 talent is the draft behind Harper, although it doesn't sound like he's going no.2 at this point. People gush about Tallison's pure upside.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2010 -> 09:47 AM) That is a load of crap. This stuff is everywhere. Heck our entire football conference barring two schools have the stuff. All they have to do is ask around for injury numbers. The numbers seem to indicate that more injuries occur on that stuff than on grass though. Albeit it is far better than old fashioned astro turf.

Time to man up and sweep a team. come on Sox!!!

Sounded like the Bears wanted to wait until there was further research done on the field surface before making the change. I guess I can understand that. Albeit the Bears grass just gets beaten up.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 14, 2010 -> 07:55 AM) Head to head Rose just looks head and shoulders better than Rondo. Rondo just cannot contain D Rose and I think Derrick is very close to becoming one of the elite dominating players in the league. He is that good. Against the Cavs he was the best player on the floor for alot of the series. Don't forget that against the Cavs, Rondo looked amazing too. Mo Williams is a garbage defender. I think Rose is > Rondo, but I think people tend to underestimate Rondo a lot, especially because he's the best defensive PG in the league, imo. Rose on the other hand is a pretty damn terrible defender most of the time (mainly due to lack of commitment/focus).