Chisoxfn

It seems lame this early, but this is a very important game. Sox need to get off to a good start in Toronto.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2009 -> 08:20 PM) We haven't done a ton of rookies in what, 10-15 years? The Sox are always plugging a new cheap guy into the line up to try to save some payroll. With the hype surrounding this minor league system right now, do you really think Kenny Williams is going to go out and spend money on anything but pitching? I just can't see it. The Sox aren't going to go out and spend big money on pitching, thats a certainty.

http://www.southsidesox.com/2009/5/14/8755...-seasons-for-cf A pretty interesting piece from Cheat's Blog. Basically shows how awful Brian Anderson has been, but if you think he sucks, just imagine how piss poor this seasons current production has been. Of course this season, Anderson statistically has been relatively solid as a starter in CF.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 14, 2009 -> 07:54 PM) Is their any reason not to promote him to AAA, at this point? He's been treading water at AA for years, they might as well just give him a push. I think they will. I wonder if they have Hudson fast tracked and we see him get promoted in a month or month and a half (and McCulloch go up at that point). That is of course assuming Hudson handles Winston Salem well.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 14, 2009 -> 07:44 PM) In the rookie year for all those guys or after they've had some time to develop? In the rookie year. It would be freaking stupid to go with a ton of rookies if the team tanks this year because you'd be asking for attendance to plummet. I mean stupid. If the Sox suck, they'll need to trade there guys, give the kids a look, evaluate, and than utilize some of this kids, trade some of those kids for other assets (proven or unproven) and find a way to make a splash to attract fans and essentially show Sox fans that they plan on contending, therefor, ticket sales might be saved. I'm not saying the Sox will do it, but it will be essential for them to do just that. And I personally think getting another outfielder isn't that bad of an idea since the Sox have zero in the words of upper echelon starting pitching prospects and might need to use some of those propsects to get us a top flight pitching prospect, especially since I'd much rather see the club spend decent money on a free agent bat or two than a free agent pitcher because spending money on bats is typically a far far better investment option.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2009 -> 06:46 PM) Historically the Sox don't spend free agent money, especially when they believe they can fill positions internally for minimum wage. I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of Getz, Beckham, Ramirez infield with the winner of Viciedo and Fields in left. And all I'm saying is that is a ballclub that will be pretty poor.

QUOTE (scenario @ May 14, 2009 -> 07:14 PM) Kanny beat Lakewood 4-1 Nathan Jones picks up the win in relief. Check out these numbers for Kannapolis pitchers today... 17 strikeouts and ZERO walks. (Sauer 8, O'Neil 1, Jones 5, and Remenowsky 3.) I have my fingers crossed and I'm knocking on wood as I say this, but Nathan Jones looks like he's starting to figure out where the strikezone is... and that could be a very interesting and good thing. On the season, he has 21 K's vs. 6 BBs in 14.2 innings. Also, Steven Sauer has 26 K's and 1BB on the season. Nice ratio. If Jones finds command, we have a guy that will be filthy at the major league level.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ May 14, 2009 -> 06:33 PM) OK, makes sense to me. I know you're not a huge fan, but I think after Thome goes, Dunn would be perfect for the Sox. Just drop him in at DH for the next 5 years and watch him put up consistent numbers. Perfect under a few conditions. They get rid of other unproductive high strikeout batters. Ie, Josh Fields and Brett Lillibridge. I just don't believe a team can be that sucessful if it has a lineup that consistently strikes out because you will have trouble executing and getting big runs and ultimately winning close games. I'm certain you'll have plenty of blow-out wins if those high strikeout guys hit for power, but as a whole, I don't think its the right makeup to be a world series caliber team. Not certain if the stats back me up, but my personal belief is that. Now if you have a couple very highly productive strikeout batters, you can get a way with it, but if those high strikeout guys are all low average players, than I think you run a risk of having a very one-dimensional inconsistent offense. Basically put, Dunn would fit in great, if the rest of the middle of the order was pretty productive. I tend to think a Bobby Abreu in his prime would be a better fit for the Sox than Dunn, but I don't know if thats a good comparison cause Abreu in his prime was pretty f***ing good. I should also say that I'd probably prefer Jermaine Dye as a whole to Adam Dunn as I believe Dye is a far more complete offensive player. I also assume we are referring to both of these guys as DH's going forward since Dunn is actually worse defensively than Dye (and Dye is pretty awful out there given his lack of range).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 14, 2009 -> 06:31 PM) Depends on the country. So in the NBA are you only subject to drug testing in season or do you have a seperate bylaws that the playres have to follow or something? Cause if I were a player I'd just state that I did it in a country that was legal. I assume the NBA players are only subject to the drug testing policy during the season, unless they have been caught a few times already?

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ May 14, 2009 -> 06:28 PM) I hate that there's no tone to writing, so I'm not trying to be a dick here, but why would you take a better BA over Thome's stats? It's a weird mix of sample sizes, but hey, I'm making the argument I'll take the liberty... Last year overall Adam Dunn's BA was .236, nine points higher than Thome's now, but look at his stats and there's no way you wouldn't take Dunn's production over Holidays .240 this year. To me BA is an incomplete stat, not a bad one or a wrong one, just incomplete. I want to know when you come up did you make an out and if you didn't what did you do? http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dunnad01.shtml http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hollima01.shtml I'm not comparing Dunn to this years Holliday, rather Dunn to Hollidays' career road OPS. If I'm comparing practically anyone to this years Holliday, I'm taking the other person and that includes players that I'm not particularly big fans of, ie current modern day Thome and Dunn (at the same time I wouldn't have had a problem if the Sox picked up Dunn for the right price this off-season and with the right offensive strategy in mind in Chicago). Obviously I wouldn't take a guy with an empty .279 average over a guy who hit .240 with 40 HR's. I still wouldn't be happy with the guy who hit .240 and would probably try to find a more complete ball player (but I would admit he's a solid ball-player). For example, Jim Thome on his career, f***ing oustanding offensive player.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 14, 2009 -> 06:22 PM) Adam Dunn = Not valuable. Yep. I'm wasting my time here. The point is Holliday still makes outs at a greater rate and has less power ALL of his career, from start to his prime, in hitting in places not in Colorado than a 38 year old Jim Thome. .270 single hitters aren't that valuable either. Just look at Neifi Perez, Alex Sanchez or Delmon Young. The OPS he was posting wasn't exactly empty. It was pretty close to an .800 OPS. Never did I utter he's a star or anything but I'd take that production from a solid defensive outfielder over the production Thome has given the SOX THIS YEAR. Would I take Hollidays production this year over Thomes, f*** no, but I would pick a s***load of other players over Jim Thome. And yes, Adam Dunn isn't that productive. For the right price he can be solid, but if I'm building a ball club, he doesn't fit into my philosphy unless I'm in serious need of a power hitter. If I already have plenty of power hitters, I'll say thanks but no thanks. Stat people vastly underrate the importance of batting average.

Noah might be smoking the ganja in one of those pictures. Stupid question, but is Weed legal in Europe? Only thing I guess I want to make sure of is that Joakim dosen't be an idiot and get caught and fail his NBA drug tests.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 14, 2009 -> 03:06 PM) Jim Thome currently has .352 OBP and .477 SLG for a .830 OPS and you want him ran out of town. So how is it Holliday's lesser numbers aren't "bad." Ultra :rolly Yes, you ignore a nice stat called batting average, where Holliday's road average is over 50points higher than Thome's. I don't give a f*** how you want to tell me statistically it doesn't matter, but when you hit .227 you are not valuable. End of story. Holliday got on base .05 points less and the OPS was higher for Thome but I'll take the higher average any day of the week.

Sam Dyson (RHP, UNC) and Joe Kelly (UCR - Closer) are two other guys to look at. I'll write something up on both of them in the next day or two. Both have big time arms, with Kelly projecting as a closer whose currently has serious command issues (but upper 90's heat and a good-to-plus slider).

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 14, 2009 -> 05:19 PM) Call me crazy, but if Fields doesn't pan out at 3B and Viciedo looks like a move to LF or DH will be neccessary, it would not surprise me to see a move of Beckham to 3B. This also depends on how Alexei, Nix, and Getz do for the rest of the season, but I think it's safe to say come next year, Beckham will be starting at either 3B, SS, or 2B for us. I don'tk now if Beckham will hit enough to stick at 3B, but he might. Still, his value is at his highest if he can stick in the middle infield. We just have to hope that his defense improves and he can turn into a Michael Young type defensive player at SS. I realize that doesn't mean he's great, ie, in the upper echelon (despite Young's GG from last year) but it does mean he sucks up everything hit to him and I'd be content with that if he hits like he's projected to do.

Gerst has as a real nice skill-set, but he hasn't been able to transition the skill-set into production.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 14, 2009 -> 04:57 PM) Interesting. I remember when we drafted him two years ago. Can't really forget a name like his. I'd have no problem taking him in round 4, 5, or 6. Needs a good amount of work, but you can't teach the amount of potential he seems to have. I should point out that I'm almost certain that he's over-hyped. But a strong arm and power potential makes him a solid fit in those type of rounds. However, there might be some other guys available that slide due to signability issues that could potentially be better picks. As a whole though, he at least has a unique set of tools to where he could develop into the prototypical corner outfielder.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 14, 2009 -> 04:53 PM) I still think if someone can finally get through to Lillibridge, he could be a decent bench player. He's got great speed, and while he's no stud defensively, he can play 2B, SS, CF, and LF in a pinch. Nothing special, but I think he could be a handy addition to any ball club, if someone can teach him how to use his tools effectively and hit. If he can do something with the bat or just utilize his speed with bunts and some slap hits, he would be an ideal bench player in the NL.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 14, 2009 -> 03:06 PM) Jim Thome currently has .352 OBP and .477 SLG for a .830 OPS and you want him ran out of town. So how is it Holliday's lesser numbers aren't "bad." Ultra :rolly Holliday has been awful this year. I was referring to the career numbers. Holliday also plays a good outfield and is in his prime. And you'd be talking about significant less money. Different skill-sets, so you aren't comparing apples to apples. Plus nowhere did you see me saying the Sox should give Holliday 10+ million that they are giving Thome. Not at all. Thome isn't worth what he's getting now and I continue to say that I'd build my team in other ways but he's not horrible. He's certainly not an all star either though.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2009 -> 03:05 PM) Even if you don't believe in Fields, we still need to make a spot for Beckham as well, not to mention a Brandon Allen, Jordan Danks, etc. We just aren't going to spend a lot of money or prospects on an OF at this point. And that would be a big mistake, since the Sox only have one prospect in the minors that projects to play in the outfield, Jordan Danks. Shelby is another guy but you don't not sign someone because of John Shelby. Allen is a 1B/DH. Beckham is a middle infielder. Quentin is an outfielder, so bottom line the Sox will most likely need to add an outfielder if they want to compete. If they don't, sure they can stick and hope every prospect pans out, but it wouldn't be the smart way to quickly rebuild.

The road numbers aren't bad though and he's a solid player still in his prime. He's just not worthy of a big time contract until he puts up big time numbers outside of Coors.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2009 -> 02:48 PM) With either Viciedo or Fields making the shift to LF in the near future and TCQ going to right, we are not going to pay 8 figures for an OF. It just isn't going to happen. I think you might be speaking far too quickly on Josh Fields.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 14, 2009 -> 02:45 PM) 1. A little early for trade winds or even the rumor mill? 2. Scott Boras 3. Look at how he is doing in Oakland, and before someone gives me some BS "Well the Cell is just like Coors Field," I must ask why pay premium dollars to a guy that you will KNOW will suck for 81 road games? Makes zero sense. He just isn't deserving of a mega contract or of a trade that involves major prospects. If you could get him for the right price I wouldn't be opposed because he is a solid ballplayer but I wouldn't give him big mega bucks and thats probably what he and Boras will be asking for. If the A's were desperate to deal him, again, I'd be happy to call and hope to buy low, but otherwise, no thanks.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ May 14, 2009 -> 02:44 PM) I'm not sure about that...now that Brian Anderson has established himself in CF, where is Wise going to play next season?

For the right price I would definately consider him. I think the Sox could use a corner outfielder starting next season.