Chisoxfn

Dick, everyone knows I'm biased against Thome. I flat out don't like guys who only hit for power and draw walks. That said, those type of guys have places on certain teams and I will admit Thome's value. But as a pure hitter, I don't consider him even close to being a very good hitter. He does other things though, like hit for obscene power (same with Adam Dunn whose a horrendous pure hitter).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:42 AM) And when the Sox traded Sweeney most thought he sucked. Its funny how 1 AB gets everyone to pounce on BA. I knew and everyone knew it would happen if he fanned. If he doubled, some of the same people beating him to a pulp right now, saying how he has a bad swing and will never have one, would be saying he's a talented guy who may be coming around. It was 1 AB. Everyone in the White Sox line-up has struck out it the same situation many times. This board overreacts about everything. I think most of us realized Sweeney would never be a major league star and Swisher had the chance to be one so the deal was worth it. Plus Sweeney had wrist injuries and problems throughout his minor league career. As a whole though, no one could deny Sweeney's tools and the beauty of his swing (even though his swing was actually better 3 years ago than it is today, haha). They made adjustments to try and get him to hit for a bit more power and he struggled with the adjustments for quite a while.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:41 AM) I'll tell you something right now, Aaron Poreda will probably make his major league debut with another club, he is 100% trade bait for us this season for a CF'er/leadoff hitter. And I have zero problem with that because I think his trade value is greater than his overall value to the White Sox. I like a lot of our other relief arms, plus I think Richard/Thornton are fine so we can afford losing our one power lefty prospect. That said if we keep him I hope he develops the secondary pitch, but as a whole, I'm not a fan of his delivery. If he stays healthy though, he will be a great reliever/closer.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:38 AM) And you can substitute JO and DW in that same sentence. I have no doubt that Owens could hit above .240. It might be an incredibly empty average, but he'd hit in the .260-.270 range with a low OBP and nothing but singles. Wise would hit in the .250's (he's a much better hitter than Anderson) and put up some pop (10-20 HR's) and a ton of doubles as well as strikeouts. Oh and a full season of Anderson and I guarantee the all time strikeout record will be set.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:37 AM) I cosign on that. Pretty sure we would have had to send 42 virgin hookers with BA to compensate for the talent downgrade. I don't think anyone could ever question the fact that a healthy Sweeney was going to hit for a good average, the only question was how empty the average would be. I always have compared him to Garret Anderson and I do believe that one day he'll have a few seasons where he hits for decent power, but as a whole, Sweeney will be a good major leaguer, never a star, but I can definately see him having quite a few .300 seasons. The question is will he hit for enough doubles and have the OBP to the point that he would be really effective in the 1 or 2 spot in the order (he won't steal enough bases to be considerd a true #1 by most teams though).

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:35 AM) He was given 40 games pretty much before he lost his starting job in 06. Row, I'm sorry, there is no defending Anderson. It's one thing if he was strugglign cause of pitch recognition or this or that. He sucks offensively because he has some of the biggest holes I've ever seen out of a major league hitter. And those who say he once had a pretty swing, I'll tell you this, his swing is better today than it was 4 years ago when he was raking in Bham, etc. His swing was always horrendous but back than he could get away with it. Against major leaguers he has no chance, none.

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:30 AM) And Ozzie hardly ever uses him as a defensive replacement anyways. That's why I'd rather them just get rid of him completely. Maybe this is his chance, maybe he'll get two weeks of solid starts. I don't know. I don't think he's the be-all CFer, but I think he needs a shot. All I'm saying. All I've ever said. Who knows, consistent playing time may get him comfortable enough to where he shortens up enough and stops forcing things. But he has such a rigid and mechanical swing.

QUOTE (Soxpranos @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:16 AM) The Anderson train was "Hype" from the start. Don't believe the hype. There is a reason, Jerry Owens, Dwayne Wise, Darin Erstad (old/broke down), Mackowiak all eventually started over Anderson. Its because offensively he has one of the worse swings known to man and the only way he'd ever be successful is based upon pure physical abilities (and even than, he'd have to severely improve pitch recognition, eye, etc). Basically put, BA as a good all around player is damn near impossible. I can't ever rule it out because the tools he has are tremendous, but watch him swing and you'll see why he'd struggle to hit .240 over the course of a full major league season (I'd probably pin him for more like a .220 average).

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:15 AM) LOL wow. That didn't take long at all for people to jump off the Anderson train. Jesus. I was a big BA supporter at times (well advocating him over other guys) but I think it was pretty evident from the get go that he didn't have a big league swing and thats why I've consistently said the Sox need to find someone else for CF. He's tremendous defensively so I'd keep him for those purposes, but as a hitter, he's absolutely putrid.

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:15 AM) So does Wise, and he was given a shot. So does Owens, and he has been given chances. It always seems like BA is last to play, and only if absolutely necessary (Wise injury, Owens sucking in AAA). I just want him to be given a chance like everyone else, because he definitely plays the best D out of the bunch. Honestly, you can't even compare Wise and Anderson. Wise has a hell of a lot more of an idea of what he's doing up at the plate than Anderson. Wise isn't that great, but as a 4th/5th outfielder there is a lot of value and I'd have a s***load more faith with Wise up in that situation than Anderson and I don't think anyone in baseball would disagree with that assessment either.

QUOTE (pcullotta @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 11:12 AM) BA is one of the worst hitters I have ever seen He has a ton of physical ability, but his actual swing is one of the ugliest I've ever seen from an actual player. Its why I would always question his true-up side as a prospect and why I felt if he would make it, it would be similar to Torri Hunter where it took him a while to finally make it in the majors and that even than you'd be talking about a guy who'd have a relatively low AVG and OBP, but pretty good power periph's. However, Anderson clearly won't ever be Hunter offensively. He's practically Randy Johnson offensively. Anderson has a place in this league as a pinch runner and defensive CFer, thats probably it.

Couldn't Nix potentially play CF?

Guys, I hope BA proves me wrong, but he still has one awful swing. If he ends up making it, it will be because he just has fantastic physical abilities.

If you guys post the questions, I'll do my best to get them answered from the really nice people in Charlotte. That organization, along with every org in the Sox system have really treated me and FutureSox tremendously over the years. Really the Sox minor league system is full of class acts, imo!!!

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 10:50 AM) I just wish we had an offensively competent utility player. Looking at what Lillibridge did in his brief stint in the majors last year is just scary, I don't think he knows what kind of hitter he is. Low contact, high FB%, almost non-existent LD% and his K rate was dreadful at both levels, he has the peripherals of a power hitter but the body and ability of a slap hitter. Agreed, Lillibridge has major offensive flaws. I see some perks to having him though, given his ability to play multiple positions with above average to average defense (depending on where he's playing). Betemeit is a sweet option and I do think Pods could turn into a nice option as well, although I hate saying it because he has been pretty awful for the past couple years (unfortunately the Sox guys have been even worse).

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 09:41 AM) I'd have no problem giving Betemit the start at 3B today. We're going to need offense with Contreras on the mound today, that's pretty much guaranteed. Josh Fields says hello.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 09:34 AM) In the newspaper, they said Getz was supposed to be ready to go today...guess not. Ozzie usually has a policy of not playing a guy until a day after he is ready to play. He'll be in the lineup at the trop.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 01:10 PM) MLB ready to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day Ok, so I understand the importance of Robinson. What he did was important for the game... and the county. but do we REALLY need to honor him every single year? DO we really need to force everyone to wear 42? i can understand on "major" anniversaries like 50, 60, 70, 75... you get the idea. But we have to honor him EVERY year? come on. And of course, this is sooooo important, that Bud Selig needs to be there, oh wait, he wont be.... Is this over the top, maybe, but we absolutely need to honor him every year. The guy changed the face of baseball and arguably America.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 06:15 AM) There is always the obvious, they just aren't that good, explanation... Don't tell that to 3/4th's of Soxtalk who was spouting how great there rotation was. Give me a break, they have a mediocre pen (one which will have there closer hurt for at least a 2-3 week stint), a bad rotation (Lee was going to regress, Carmona wasn't as good as he was, Pavano/Reyes, meh), and a mediocre offense (Sizemore is great, Hafner is living in the past, Martinez is solid, Choo was really good last year (not a full season), but as a whole, far from this great lineup every expert and most of Soxtalk were yapping about. Its early in the season so I don't want to say, haha, I was right, but the predictions I wrote down to start the year are looking fairly good.

Welcome aboard!!!! Thanks for the info.

He's talented and a headcase. If Ozzie could straighten him out and Sox scouts see something they like or can fix, I'd be for it, pending the price of course.

Now thats stupid. I assume the weather might not be good enough for them to do a DH tomorrow? Or do they just not want a completely empty stadium.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 10:14 AM) Ozzie was quoted as KW told him he was calling up Owens "for a few days". Maybe they think Pods will be ready in a few days as he hasn't played in couple of weeks. I can't see how anyone thinks Pods, when he's not hurt, isn't better than Owens. Pods in CF is a scary thought, but you can say that about several White Sox when they are out on the field. I do know Ozzie would sub defensively for Pods and he probably wouldn't for Owens, so BA might get on the field late in some games he normally would be riding pine in. Hopefully though, its all moot, and BA starts scorching the ball. Plus, one thing you have to like about Pods is his ability to work the count at the top of the order. He struck out more than I liked as a leadoff hitter but he also has a pretty good eye and will usually make a pitcher work. And while he won't put up ridiculous numbers, in fact, his numbers will be below league average (since he is older), you have to realize that that is a significant upgrade over the other CF options. I still expect Anderson to get the chance to take the reigns (and I hope he does and I expect the Sox to give him that opportunity), but against tough righties I wouldn't be opposed to having Pods slide in. Plus, Pods could be a really nice guy to have pinch hit late in the innings when you might need a run (be nice to be able to bring in a former leadoff hitter to pinch hit to start an inning late in a game). In a reserve role I'd also expect him to be able to hone the craft as a bunter plus he's a very smart baserunner as well so as a whole I see a lot of added value in having a guy like Pods alround. You also know that he'll mesh well in the clubhouse. And if Pods gets hurt or doesn't have it, it cost you nothing. We already know Owens doesn't have it.

Good, with a double header tomorrow, I might actually be able to catch one of the games.

Swisher got the Sox Viciedo. Nuff said. Obviously, Swisher will be much better than last year and far more in line with his career averages. I'd also say that he'd look really good in CF right now. However, I don't fault the Sox from moving them but clearly it was a deal that didn't work out for the Sox (since I'd rather have Sweeney and Viciedo (had we never made the deal, the Sox would have had money for Viciedo). But I loved the move at the time and no one knew how awful Swish would be last year.