Chisoxfn

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Nov 18, 2009 -> 08:17 PM) Trayce is actually higher (again IF he figures it all out).. which could potentially make you wet. I'm going to have to disagree with that. Mitchell is just more polished and I can't say Trayce has a better skill-set, although he does have more power potential. Both have sick upsides, but both also have a lot to work on that puts the odds of them reaching that ceiling at much lower levels and it is why they both were outside of the top 10. I would say both have the pure potential of a top 10 or so pick though.

QUOTE (wsgdf_2 @ Nov 18, 2009 -> 08:09 PM) It's Kevin Goldstein. He's not a typical Baseball Prospectus guy. He wrote for Baseball America in another life. So... the rankings aren't based purely on performance. He definitely takes performance into account, but with him it seems to be more of a combination of upside(tools) + readiness(performance). He does take age and level into account also. He's always loved Jared Mitchell - thought it was a GREAT pick when the Sox took him, so I'm not surprised he ranks him so high. Goldstein also follows the Sox quite a bit so I'd say he's a very very well educated observer of the Sox system and a good guy to listen to when he talks about Sox prospects.

I think shelby and long will be protected. Probably Gartrell and Cassel as well. I wouldn't protect those guys though as I don't think they'd stick on another major league team for a full-season. Long and Shelby have the best potential of that group. Omogrosso would be right there with Long/Shelby, but he's hurt and who knows if he'll recover.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 04:58 AM) Exactly. Obviously a trade for A-Gon isn't going to go down in the next day or two. But it is something that has been speculated on as an option, ever since the season had finished, because of the circumstances with San Diego's payroll, the Sox's need to improve their 1B/DH situation, and the two teams having dealt with each other only a couple of months ago with the Peavy deal, albeit there's a new GM in Hoyer there now. As for the Soxnet / Cowley situation, Cowley's entitled to his view but obviously many people around here and myself feel that he was overly harsh in doing so to say the least, but hey that's the nature of the business. Soxnet isn't mainstream, we hope one day that it becomes popular enough that it does so. And after making the post about the Gonzalez rumor, traffic on the site spiked significantly, so it has generated the site some publicity and extra viewing traffic which is great for the site. And obviously, every rumor that a message board or a blog posts is not always going to be correct. But the guys decided to post what they had heard from their sources, and for them to be dealt with by some members of the media (while some others have risen above that), has just been classless and really quite sad in the end. I want to just speak out and say we've held to ourselves many rumors over the years. This was one we felt worthy of talking about. It came from a good source, had details as to a few of the names that would be going (saying the Sox called about Adrian Gonzalez is one thing, its another to hear that three teams talked and bounced the idea of a 3 team trade off of each other). Again, we also re-iterated it would never happen. I'm willing to take whatever heat comes about from making a comment and I'll take heat in the future when I report what I heard on. It happens to anyone, blogger or media member, but I'd like to believe our sites and our long-term reputation is very well respected amongst Sox fans privy to whats going on in the web world. You'll never find a better source for Sox minor league news than on our network. And you'll never find a place that more often than not is ahead of the curve on Sox news (whether its getting the juice out of a rumor right when it happens, to us reporting something with our own sources, etc, etc). We might not talk to the org as often as others, but for anyone to say we don't have sources, I'd like people to go back and look at just one many real interesting days we've had. A day when the Sox were handling Brandon McCarthy. The radio was saying one thing, I was saying another. People outside of Soxtalk doubted us, little did they know I was 10000000% sure that my info was better than theirs because of who my info was coming from.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Nov 18, 2009 -> 10:31 PM) You know, I'm not sure if Joe or anyone else in the media lurks here. Personally, I appreciate message boards and a lot of times I find them sometimes entertaining, sometimes helpful. What, I think, some people don't like about message boards is how they can sometimes devolve into groupthink and "best insult" contests. I don't really care for that. I don't care for negativity, but I do love real, actual debate. Negativity is probably the one thing about message boards that can rub me the wrong way. Some of you know that I sometimes get the "company man" tag thrown at me on occasion (often on message boards), but it really isn't true. For those that truly listen to what I say during the shows, I'm not a pessimist, but I'm also really not an optimist. I'm just simply not a negative person. I don't think everything is always going to end up as bad as it could possibly end up, and I don't think that everything that can go wrong always will go wrong. I think sometimes negativity runs rampant on message boards. That's usually because of the passion posters have for their teams. This is true pretty much everywhere. This isn't always true, but sometimes it is. I love having level-headed discussion about the team and I've been participating over at WSI for a while (sorry, Mike!). I'll be back here as often as I can. I don't doubt that the contributors here have good intentions. Again, I think it's a matter of being careful in how rumors are presented because, as you can see, s***storms can follow. Hey Chris Welcome aboard. Glad you've stopped by and I appreciate your comments. I never thought the story I wrote would end up erupting like it did, but I will not take back what I said and it came from a very good source. I felt that the article I wrote was as honest as possible to the fact that they were prelim discussion. In fact, for those that followed this thread they will vouch for the fact that I kept re-iterating that I was reporting discussions had taken place recently between the three teams with those names being involved. I didn't go anywhere past there and I thought indicated throughout the article that that was the extent of the talks. I wanted Sox fans to know what we had heard and to discuss the possibilities. Basically put, prior to the article there was already a 20 page thread on the matter of Adrian Gonzalez but most of it (with the exception of the radio reports last week) was pure conjecture on Sox fans part. I felt the news we heard from our source put an end to the conjecture and at least linked the teams to discussions. I personally see Gonzalez as a great fit for a club with a budgeted payroll of 115-120M and since the Sox don't fit in that camp I think it would be hard to come up with a Gonzalez deal that makes sense (since you'd lose him in 2 years). I realize Gonzalez contract is cheap, but even if you acquire him you still have significant holes to fill and an extension to try and figure out, plus you know your going to have to eventually pay Quentin and Danks. If the club could move Jenks, Konerko, Linebrink it would be another story but that will be incredibly difficult to do (especially in the case of Linebrink). Well, maybe not difficult to trade them, but to get value back equal to there value with the Sox would be difficult (in the case of Jenks/Paulie). And in regards to Joe Cowley, I have stayed out of it aside from sending my email to him, because his comments were not attacking a rumor, they were attacking myself and other individuals and those comments were completely unprofessional and un-called for. If Joe wanted to find out about SoxNet, he could have shot me a quick email and I would have been happy to inform him of the sites history, the fact that the network of three (Soxtalk/FutureSox/SoxNet) sites gets ~12 million hits per month, has interviewed quite a few major and minor league players over the years, has an owner that turned down a job to go into scouting, has connections to Sox scouts, etc, etc, etc. I realize SoxNet might appear new, but the way he reacted and responded and criticized was completely un-professional and child-like. And I'll take all of the heat that comes with what I wrote and I'll stand by it, just as I've stood bye anything I've written (albeit poorly, as I'm not a columnist, but I am a baseball purist and a person that has a vast understanding of the game of baseball) and I'll continue moving forward in my goal of making this place the best of all fan run sites across the web!!!! And Rongey, once again, you are a class act and I look forward to seeing you around these parts more often!!!

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 18, 2009 -> 02:15 PM) We have a winner, Gonzales is definitely a class act. So, theres short legs, but obviously Kenny likes Adrian Gonzalez, so theres still a chance. I think everyone knew this deal wasn't going to go-down ASAP and that the odds were ultimately remote. Does the media indicate that the Sox have interest in Figgins, etc. Absolutely. This really isn't much different than that, with the exception we are indicating that the three teams had a preliminary discussion on a potential trade. The discussion most likely occured at the GM Meetings and odds are it wasn't going to go anywhere (given all of the variables).

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 09:30 PM) Bulls win 101-87. This was basically the 1st time I got to see the Bulls this season for an extended portion of a game and the thing that stook out to me most was how much better the defense looked compared to years past. Yes, it was against a mediocre/bad/young Kings team, but we played extremely disciplined defense. They didn't leave their feet on pump fakes, they worked hard to get around screens, they hustled to every loose ball, they didn't allow any easy entry passes to the post, they communicated well on switches, and their man defense overall was very sound. It's definitely apparent that the coaches and players have put a great deal of focus on defensive effort, and it seems to be paying off a bit. There is a major difference in having a healthy Hinrich and Luol Deng getting significant minutes. Not to mention Salmons. All three are superior to the garbage defensive players we had on the court for significant stretches of last season, imo.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 18, 2009 -> 10:05 AM) Yet again, someone missing the point here - the main desired Sox pieces in that trade are NOT named Konerko. We should also point out that our initial source did not give any specifics regarding what the Angels would be trading, but did mention there would be salary relief coming. Now salary relief could imply cash coming from the Sox or the Angels sending a player with a contract. So if it is the Konerko piece that makes the rumor so bogus, than I find it very interesting that people ignore the fact that Konerko and cash or Konerko for a bad contract and prospects makes a lot of sense for the Angels. I'm I am the Angels, I'd consider dealing Brandon Wood, Gary Matthews Jr., and cash to the White Sox for Paul Konerko. Matthews has no value to the Angels, in fact he has negative value, and Konerko would give the Angels much positive value as a DH. The better question is if I'm the White Sox would I do that. And than from the Padres perspective, would you consider a deal (hypothetical) involving Brandon Wood, Jordan Danks, Hudson, and Flowers. Someone will tell me the Pads think they have there 3B of the future, but I'd counter and say that Wood is fully capable of playing 2B (if you can play SS, you can play 2B). So the Pads could fill 3 major holes in there everyday lineup with players ready who possess upside and get a potential #2/#3 starter who is ready for the majors. Ya, I'd say that could legitimately make sense for all parties. The team I'd question would be the White Sox who'd be giving up a whole hell of a lot for 2 years of Adrian Gonzalez.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Nov 18, 2009 -> 09:51 AM) Just admit it Jason. Your pseudonym is Mark Gonzalez. Haha.

Gonzalez really is a class act.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Nov 18, 2009 -> 09:30 AM) what does what mean? The short legs comment? Basically, there not much to the trade rumor. Basically it means exactly what we reported, prelim discussions happened and it sounds like nothing ultimately went past that. I think it is exactly what we've widely speculated. The key to me is that the three teams had prelim discussions and moved on for the time being. From the Angels perspective I am sure they have far bigger fish to fry at this point in time, but it doesn't mean Reagans wasn't willing to chat for a bit.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Nov 18, 2009 -> 09:27 AM) Gonzo gave props to SoxNet for the Peave trade. Said the AG trade has "very short legs" What exactly did he say, I'm curious?

Another important thing for everyone to realize is the viewership Soxtalk gets. It is not some small potatoe publication, the site has an incredibly high volume of traffic and a lot of media power. We aren't just some small blog that has no history of being accurate in the past. We are one of the largest independent fan run team specific message board, with sister blogs, and connections. Just think, Soxtalk's message board traffic is greater than the boards of Whitesox.com, Local Media, & ESPN.com combined.

Badass..congrats Evan!!

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Nov 16, 2009 -> 06:25 PM) Now that it's over, I can honestly say it was one of the top-3 HIMYM episodes for me. Loved all of Barney's "plays." And the blonde was smoking. Ya, definitely one of the best HIMYM episodes of all time.

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 03:04 PM) Morel 4-6, homer Danks has 3 hits as well.

What is the Score phone number and how long does there show go till. I'd be happy to set something up and talk briefly about our site, etc. In no way shape or form am I claiming to know more than the beat writers do. They have far more access to news and info but there are times that they might not know something that someone else does. Everything is unique.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 02:59 PM) This only makes sense if we don't expect Flowers with this organization in the near future. I commented in the further analysis section, but to me this makes sense for one of a few reasons: 1. If the Sox deemed Flowers ready offensively, they could utilize Flowers bat at DH while he continued to work with Don Cooper, AJ Pierzysnki, and Henry Blanco on the nuances of being a catcher. 2. If the Sox ultimately determined the Flowers wasn't ready (see below), the team could keep Flowers in AAA, where he can hone his offensive and defensive game. 3. The acquisition of any back-up could hypothetically allow GM Ken Williams to trade Tyler Flowers. Flowers does have the most power potential in the Sox system, but he also has some well documented swing flaws. Still, he's a safe bet to put up above average offensive numbers at the catching position, while playing league average defense, at a minimal cost.

White Sox Show Interest in Henry Blanco By Jason Gage

QUOTE (WCSox @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 02:21 PM) Lots of truth to this. Honestly, what skills does Cowley have that the average college graduate with a passion for baseball doesn't? Well, that's the entire point of blogs: they're independent. The media conglomerates have a presence on the internet as well, but that doesn't mean that they control the medium. I will point out that the Tribune in no way shape or form tells us what we put up on our blog. We are completely independent of the newspaper.

http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/articl...jsp&c_id=sd Padres beat writer talks about the rumors. Nowhere in there does he shoot anything down. Doesn't verify it either, but interesting to say the least.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 12:20 PM) I have many back and forths with him where we basically attacked each other over the course of weeks. He's a douche. Nothing professional will ever come back to you from him. This is a guy who was ousted by his own peers from voting for awards in the very subject he "reports" on. He doesnt even have the access to the clubhouse he claims, and this is backed up by several players comments to me personally. After getting his response, I understand exactly what you are talking about. I'm not going to even going to put it up, but it makes his initial comments look mature.

Wait, are they letting go of Bowe? NM: Suspension

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 11:05 AM) Are you a Next Generation fan, Chisoxfn, or an Enterprise guy? Depending on your answer i have lost a lot of respect for you as both a human being and as a source. I don't even know the difference. I do like Lost though!!!!

QUOTE (longshot7 @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 11:04 AM) Okay, we will agree to disagree, since I know you follow the Angels as close as I do. All I'm saying is there are no indications in any of the media I've seen that the Angels are looking to fill their DH vacancy from outside their organization, given their commitment to Morales and the glut of outfielders they already have. From all indications, the Angels are not going to be big spenders this offseason and there is a lot of speculation whether or not they'll be able to sign their own free agents (Lackey & Figgins) and fill their pitching holes. I would love for the Sox to trade for Gonzalez and to do so they would have to move Konerko. I just don't see the Angels are a trade partner. If this happens, I will eat major crow. The Angels have been reportedly interested in Matt Holliday. I'm not saying that Konerko makes a lot of sense and if I were the Angels I'd look at other options before looking at Konerko. But neither me or you know exactly what the Angels thoughts are on Konerko. Prior evidence would indicate that the Angels think pretty highly of him, but again, that could have changed when Reagins took over. We also don't know what the Sox offer to the Angels was. Were we sending substantive cash, were we getting back a contract? We don't really know those details so I think to write-off the possibilities as zero would be incorrect. I personally don't see this trade going through but I think the Sox and Padres will be talking to each other a lot (up until Adrian is gone) because Adrian would be a tremendous fit for this offense. And my guess is Kenny will be calling a whole lot of other teams (and probably go back to the Angels again) to see if he can get another team to take on a contract as part of the trade so that he can be flexible. Doesn't mean it will happen, but it also mean the discussions didn't happen and I've yet to really see anyone dispute that this discussions have taken place. I believe one San Diego reporter indicated that nothing was going on and that could very well be true. We are reporting the facts as we know them and that is that the teams had discussions. Take it for what it is worth.