CWSGuy406

Bondra's player profile from TSN: Last year in 60 games, he tallied 39 points (21 G + 18 A). So he looks like a decent 2nd liner who will be forced into a first line role, which I don't mind. We don't have anyone else who can score like he can, and it's only costing Tallon half a million for one year. Nice deal. Who's he going to play with? Havlat/Ruutu/Bondra? Havlat/Smoke/Bondra?

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Dec 10, 2006 -> 06:04 AM) At least they got another point and Havlat is back.....but damn, sounds like they shoulda won tonight. I didn't see the game, but I've seen several that Boucher has played and he SUCKS!! Do the Hawks still have Lalime? I know they did, but he was hurt. Point one: No, they shouldn't have won. For one, Boucher played crappy. Second, I've read that Minny hit between five-and-seven posts tonight. Literally. For them to hit that many posts and still score five goals, I imagine the defense was shoddy at best, although Cullimore and Wis seem to have played decently. Going into the third period, down 4-2, on the road, to a pretty solid Minnesota Wild team, and we get a point? I'll take that all day. Point two: Lalime should be back by the end of December. Apparently he's starting to work about a bit with the team and practice. Just FWIW.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 10, 2006 -> 04:17 AM) Call up Barker to replace Cully, or Richmond. And I see Wishineski (sure I didn't spell that right) has been gettin a lot of ice time since Savard took over. I didn't see the game, but Wis sure sounds like a tough kid. Small, but he hits. Also sounded (for those that don't know, I can't see the majority of the games) like he played real well, knocking some guys off the puck. Brian or Jester, or anyone else who saw the game, care to comment? I hope Cullimore has 'showcased' himself well enough to warrant a trade, even if it's for something like a fifth rounder. We are still pretty deep defensively, and eventually I'd like to see two of Wis/Barker/Byfuglian playing fairly solid minutes for the Hawks regularly. Seabrook, Keith, Kukkonen, Vandy, Wis, Barker, Aucoin, Byfuglian, Richmond -- that's nine right there not counting Cullimore. We're currently four points out of a playoff spot. All things considered, that's not bad. I'm not expecting us to actually get that last playoff spot, but I'd consider this season successful if we're competing for that spot come March/April. Gonna have to go on a run, but I think it's possible. Khabbi has been playing very well, and Havlat is back. Five of the next seven games are at home. The games at home look tough (Wings, Oilers, Preds among others), but the two games on the road are VERY winnable, against the Blues and BJs. I forgot to say that it's quite possible we get MORE offense in the next two weeks, with Bondra potentially signing and Borque coming back. We're not talking about game-changers with those two, but both will fit in nicely and help the club out offensively. If the defense can hold its own, I think we'll start to score a bit more, mainly because of the Havlat/Ruutu combo, but also because we're getting a little deeper.

I'll post my thoughts on the MU/Wiscy game later on when I'm more rational (yes, I realize right now it's been almost six hours after the game -- I'm still pissed). Quite dissappoiting... that was the best indoor atmosphere I've ever been at in my short lifetime, so I'm a little peeved that we didn't see the effort we saw in the Duke game. Props to Wisconsin, congrats on the win SB, and Tucker is a helluva player -- the better team won today, but damn... still pisses me off.

Score update? f***ing FSN North has the Wiscy/ND hockey game on.

Marquette vs. Wisconsin tomorrow. You guys with no allegiance to either team better be cheering for the Eagles... (I'm looking specifically at the guys I shared a hotel room on a certain Cincy trip)

If Zambrano does resign with the Cubs, he better take them for every penny and not leave any money on the table elsewhere. I'm talking at least 5-6 years at $17-20 per season.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 06:09 PM) I'll try to make this clear yet again. In 2006, we had Garcia in the rotation and BMac as the long reliever/#6 starter. In 2007, we'll have BMac in the rotation and Haeger/Floyd/Tracey as the long reliever/#6 starter. Which is better: Garcia+BMac or BMac+?????. So the trade did not help in 2007. WTF are you talking about? BMac was a below average reliever last year. I'd be willing to bet that Haeger or Floyd do better than BMac in the bullpen last year. The sixth man in our bullpen isn't going to make us "significantly worse" heading into next year, either way. Also, you talk about how we now lack starting pitching depth. Haeger is unproven, yes, but so are most teams' sixth and seventh starters. That's not unique to the Sox; it's either that or veteran retread types like Tim Redding. I'd say our depth at the starting pitching spot is, at worst, average. Our current sixth and seventh starters (Haeger and Phillips) are two guys coming off of seasons with ERAs bordering 3.00 in a hitters haven at Charlotte. You're picking nits here.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 07:12 PM) Because I don't want the Sox to spend $20 million a year for 6 guaranteed years on a guy who isn't one of the very best players in the game (not as good as guys like Pujols...the very elite of baseball players), that means I don't want the Sox to spend money? Umm, if there's a player that the Sox should spend big money on, its Wells. Plays elite defense at a position on the important end of the defensive spectrum, yet has the bat to play a corner OF spot. He's right in the middle of his prime, and while not a huge stolen base threat, is pretty competent on the basepaths. He's exactly the type of player you pay big money to. If the Sox got him, I'd immediately offer a five-six year deal upwards of $15 million per. He's one of fifteen most valuable players in baseball.

Havlat! back tonight.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 05:10 PM) 3. When a SP gets injured (and this happens to basically every team, every year), we'll have no major league ready replacement to fill in, because we've lost our SP depth. Haegar? If it's past June, Broadway? Potentially even Floyd himself? Find me all these other teams that 'sport' this enormous depth that you speak of.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 04:59 PM) It makes us worse. You're a broken record. How does it make us 'worse' for 2007? Is McCarthy going to fall off the earth as a starter?

SH1980, explain to me how this move makes us WORSE for 2007. I don't think it makes us better for 2007, but I can't see how you can call it worse. For just this upcoming season, it's a lateral move -- you're replacing Garcia with BMac, and bullpen BMac with Haeger/Floyd. Unless you think that BMac is going to tank, which would be pretty outlandish.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 04:48 PM) You actually think this was a good trade??? He traded a quality SP for two decent prospects. Gio had a poor year in his first year in AA in 2006. He's nowhere near major league ready (think 2 or 3 years for his debut and then probably a year or two before he hits his stride, if ever). Floyd was a top prospect 3 YEARS AGO. And his value has dropped steadily since then. These guys aren't even blue chip prospects. Like all prospects, they are just maybes and not even great maybes at that. I'm taking information from someone who knows more about the both of us combined about both of these guys, but with Gio, he still kept the nasty K numbers. His home park is quite the HR haven, and Gio apparently pitched quite a bit of his innings at home this year, so that explains part of the HR spike. He's gotta harness his control a little bit, sure, but he's only 20. You'd be hard-pressed to find me five definitively better left-handed prospects than Gio. And with Floyd, even Sickels still likes him after his poor 2006. Calls him a change of scenery guy. I know that's not going to instill a lot of confidence in you, but we're getting more than just two "decent" prospects here.

I'm listening to the streaming version, though, so I assume it's a couple seconds behind.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 08:06 AM) I'd recommend watching the press conference if you guys haven't yet. The beginning and end especially are rather entertaining. I was just going to say the same thing. Definitely glad to have Gio back. Counting last year, the trade ends up being Thome + $$$ + Gio + Floyd for Rowand + Garcia + Castro/Haigwood. It looks a lot better that way, so I think I'm going to just post it like that from now on.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 06:15 AM) Yes, but the Cell is such a launching pad compared to San Fran. I try to watch as many Bonds at-bats as possible, and it's amazing the warning track power that he had last year. If he hits those same balls at the Cell, a good handful of them are in the seats. Yup... isn't it like 430 out to right center in Pac Bell? I wonder how many warning track shots he's hit to that part of the park over the years...

Expanding on Bonds... Pitchers thought that Bonds was DONE last year. First half, they feared him, intentionally walking him 31 times. And as a result his OBP was right around .475. Well, in the second half, they only IBB'd him seven times. And hey, his OBP went down to .420... too bad he slugged .600, though.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 06:09 AM) That OBP entirely depends on people continuing to be afraid of him. His OBP did gradually decline last year as people started to realize he wasn't hurting htem as much. (Oh, and he put up only a .450 last year). Or not. Pitchers did the exact opposite. They pitched to him more in the second half -- 33 less walks in the second half -- and Barry made 'em pay, slugging right around .600 while keeping his OBP well above .400.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 05:14 AM) Keith, what are we going to use the 10 mill on though? That was off the books next year anyways and right now there is absolutely nothing to make this team better in the free agent market. Good question. Everyone is talking about acquiring a hitter, but I think Williams still might have his eye on a pitcher. I'm not smart enough to say who that is, but maybe he still has his eye on Lackey or Santana from Anahiem. Maybe they balked at Garcia and wanted someone else. The extra $10 million does confuse me, though, unless they go out and ink Bonds in the next hour, but that's just me 'dreaming', as I doubt both JR and Kenny would say that Bonds isn't coming here only to ink him less than 24 hours later.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 05:05 AM) Because that's around the range of his average fastball. You should know better than anyone how scouting services always seem to mention the highest velocity possible, when in reality, the average is a few mph slower. BTW, people might want to close their eyes when they look up Floyd's minor league numbers the last two years. We're all seeing the same thing. Mediocre K/9 numbers, bad numbers the past season or two. Floyd is a project. Kenny is certainly showing a lot of faith in Cooper here. Gonzalez is still pretty close, though, to a top pitching prospect. I know his ERA was right around four-and-a-half, but the K/9 numbers remain excellent, and he was still very young for his league. He's not in the league of a Pelfrey or a Bailey, but he's (IMO) in that next tier. We're getting two reasonably 'powerful' arms here. And $10 million bucks.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 05:02 AM) Obviously I was referring to starting pitchers, and in relation to the starters we're drafting lately. Didn't you see the BA article I referenced before saying how he tops out at 94, but his velocity drops frequently due to delivery issues? Then why did you say 92 in the first place?

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 04:57 AM) Considering our scouting, 92 mph with a curve is a power arm. Heh. Sickels says he touches 95 and sits at 93-94. But I'll trust you, fathom.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 04:32 AM) Cubs have a better offense Ah, Fathom back with his always over-the-top posts. Spectacular. You learn something every day, though -- apparently Soriano is worth 150 runs.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 04:24 AM) Agreed. I've said a couple times that we would NOT get the return everyone thought for one of our starters. But I still have strong reservations on this. Gio's been impressive, but he's still a guy who's been dogged by injury concerns since being drafted. But I'll give KW the benefit of the doubt on this one. I'm by no means happy, but I really don't think it's that terrible of a deal. Floyd + Gio + $10 million for one year of Garcia. Seems okay to me, potentially great if Coop can fix Floyd's mechanics. This is not a setting-back-your-franchise type deal that the Vazquez deal could turn out to be.