CWSGuy406

Ahh, I see the "Frank never did anything for us in the postseason" crew has already arrived. Hah, some of you guys really crack me up. f***ing FRANK THOMAS!!!! What a game!!!! QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 3, 2006 -> 08:17 PM) http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/thomafr04.shtml His postseason stats are about halfway down the page. I'm not sure what else you were expecting of him 1993. He seemed to fare extremely well, especially for being walked 10 times in six games. And I don't know about you, but I can't recall anyone on the Sox showing up in 2000. Greasy, make sure you don't mention that Godchild Paul Konerko went 0-for-9 with 1 BB in the 2000 playoffs. Because, if you DARE say a bad word about Pauly Konerko, you're fishin' for some trouble. Don't bring up "O-E-O, MAGGLIO", either, who hit just .182 in the 2000 playoffs. It was all big jerk Frank's fault we lost in 2000, and don't you forget that!!!!

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Oct 2, 2006 -> 06:10 PM) Ultimately, Ordonez became rich in Detroit and now is in the playoffs. He's standing, an All-Star, and doesn't appear to exhibit any of the long-term problems many on here thought. Including myself, for that matter. Sure had no problem hitting tatters off our pitching the last series in Chicago. Aside from the series Maggs had against the Sox a week or so ago, he's been pretty mediocre this year. The Tigers are paying $15 million bucks for an OFer in his decline years who put up an .827 OPS this year, and who's pretty pathetic defensively. It's still an awful contract for Detroit. Of course, I agree with your general point that we can't just not deal with Boras (and this should apply doubly true to draft prospects as well), but only you could paint losing Maggs in a bad light.

Alrighty, I need some fantasy football help. I'm sort of been stuck between a rock and a hard place here. Here's my QB situation heading into tomorrow; Vick is fine (vs Arizona), but my three other QBs all have problems. Chris Simms is obviously hurt and I have his backup, Bruce Gradkowski, but Tampa Bay has a bye tomorrow. My third QB, Kerry Collins (please don't laugh), has finally had his job taken away. I'm in a league with 14 teams total in it, so I can't find one starting QB for tomorrow. Any suggestions as to someone I should pick up tomorrow morning (I'm obviously releasing Collins)? Any guys who might be pulled at half if they aren't getting the job done? Any guys who are backup QBs but come in and take a snap or two? BTW, before you start thinking that my team is 'the awful', you should know that I'm 3-0 and sit alone atop my league. I drafted WR and TE heavy, as my league gives out one point per reception, as well as a bonus at 100 receiving yards. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Anyone know if I can find the full last episode online anywhere? And, if so, where?

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Oct 1, 2006 -> 01:35 AM) Like you said, also has 655 more chances. Think if AGonz played for CWS in 05 and Uribe played for FLA, the numbers would be the same? I don't. ??? DER is a percentage of the chances, so it wouldn't matter if he had more chances. It's still a large enough sample size to make a judgement from it. So, Uribe ranks better in DER, zone rating, the Fielding Bible, and to Studes, yet Gonz is the better defender? Hmm... Along with being the better defender, he's pretty much Gonzalez' equal offensively, and is more than a year younger than AGonz. Really, signing Gonzalez would be quite pointless, and I'm 100% certain Kenny wouldn't waste $3 million or so dollars.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Oct 1, 2006 -> 01:02 AM) David Studes. You say something about me stating my opinion and use ZR and an article in which some guy gives his opinion to prove your point? Give me these stats for this year: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:8NuEKh...lient=firefox-a Yes, Studes is a respected enough man in the saber community (and, if you've been lucky enough to meet him, a real nice guy too) to deserve acknowledgement, seeing as he also went off of John Dewan's Fielding Bible along with ZR (among other things). And, I'm not sure if I'm reading the chart correctly, but even there, Uribe's DER ranks higher and he has close to 90 more actual outs (albeit in more chances).

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 30, 2006 -> 08:56 PM) I haven't heard of this...what's going on? Read here: http://www.newsday.com/sports/printedition...ny-sports-print You mean, in your opinioin AGonz>Uribe. Because Uribe ranks better than Gonz in zone rating, and was rated the best defensive shortstop in the AL by David Studes at The Hardball Times. So, in your unproven, non-fact based opinion, AGonz is better than Uribe defensively.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Sep 30, 2006 -> 07:34 PM) We're talking career avgs here. The guy didn't hit for the 1st two months. And still upped his avg. to near .300 like professional hitters always seem to manage. His OBP is off this yr. A difference of .38 between his BAvg. and OBP. Pierre's post-ASB OBP was .339. So, Pierre at his best is a .340 OBP guy? But at least he'll be super-fly on the bases, right? Well, if you like leadoff hitters with OBPs of less than .330, than I guess that's your thing. I like to aim a little bit higher, mmkay? We don't need a leadoff man who can run real fast. We need a guy who can get on-base at an acceptable rate, so when Thome and Dye and Konerko launch their homers, it's not just a solo shot. You do realize that next August, Pierre will be 30 years old, ie in the end of his peak years? And you do realize that once Pierre starts to lose speed, he'll be a completely useless player, yes? And you do realize that Pierre will probably get a four year deal for close to $30 million because apparantly there are still GMs out there under your dilusional impression that speed is more important than having a good OBP, yes? He's already on the team. Tad Iguchi. He's going to finish the seaso with an OBP right around .350. He won't have to hit behind Scotty anymore, so I could see him posting an OBP closer to .360. Plus, we won't have to give up anything to get him. BTW, Beck, I should add that I'm not totally against your ideas; I do like the idea of buying low on Crisp. But, there's also a situtation arising in New York, where Milledge is being "outted" by some of his teammates. I'd love to see Kenny swoop in and (a semi pipe dream) tag Milledge along with a pitching prospect for Garcia.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Sep 30, 2006 -> 07:04 PM) And Pierre? A guy leads the league in hits and he doesn't get on base enough? You got me. His OBP is .329 coming into today. Even Scott f***ing Podsednik had a higher OBP coming into today. So yes, he doesn't get on base enough. You don't seem to get it.

Gload for Konerko? No, that wouldn't have made a difference. But, by September, I think everybody except our manager could tell that there were at least two better options sitting on the bench in favor of our left-fielder. One of Ozzie's many failures this year was not cutting bait with Podsednik sooner. The guy in position to get the most ABs on our team was also, without a doubt, our WORST hitter in the second half, putting up a worse-than-dismal .242/.298/.300 batting line. It really makes me angry, too. What did Pods do to deserve the spot to start against righties this year? He had one hot streak, more or less, that "earned" him the spot, which came in May. His next highest OBP month was .330. That also includes two months where his OBP was in the .280s. I think I can safely say that Podsednik was our worst starting player this year. He provided absolutely nothing to the 2006 Sox, and probably even held them back.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Sep 30, 2006 -> 04:04 PM) trade Javy, not freddy. Let him have a good half with someone else. We need someone to have a good year. Freddy was never right coming off the WBC. Let him go home and harvest his crops, kick it, and come back strong. Oh boo friggin who. I'm quite sick of hearing about the WBC as an excuse for Freddy. He pitched 7 1/3rd innings over two outings. We're not talking about a guy who threw two complete games in the WBC. QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Sep 30, 2006 -> 02:08 PM) And yes Arias numbers this season weren't pretty. But he's only 21 or 22, and he was hitting in AAA for the 1st time this season. Give him another season there and I'm sure he'll do a much better job, and IIRC, the reports I've heard on him say he's very good defensively. WTF, Joaquin Arias? Why the hell do you guys talk about him like he's Brandon Wood? His OBP was under .300 this year IN THE PCL!!!!!! His career minor league OPS is barely over .700. I'd rather hand the starting job over to Pedro Lopez than trade for Arias...

Reading in between the lines a bit, there's a distinct difference in how Podsednik is viewed by the organization vs how Uribe is viewed by the organization. I think Kenny realizes that the OBP sucks for Uribe, as most of us can quite easily see. But, who honestly is a guy we can acquire who's actually a better value than Uribe, when taking everything into consideration (what we'd give up, the contract of the new guy). I know Rollins seems to be the God-child so far, but is he really a better value than Uribe, Fields, and Broadway (just a guess on the package)? Is he worth that, plus the couple million difference in salaries? Podsednik, OTOH -- I pretty much think his writing is on the wall. I haven't once seen Williams back Pods like he does Uribe in this article. Out of all the different directions that Kenny can go this offseason, I could honestly see him just sticking Sweeney in LF, trading Garcia for the best package of prospects he can get, make some minor tweaks to the bench and bullpen, and call it a winter. I think KW wants to get back to having an elite defense (the 06 Sox were good defensively, not great), and obviously, have a staff that ranks just sliiiiightly better than 10th (or whatever it was) in the AL in ERA.

Fathom's concern for Stewart as our backup catcher is justified. He hit .253/.282./.360 vs lefties down at Charlotte this year. That's brutal. Considering all the tough lefties in this division, and the fact that more rest for AJ certainly wouldn't hurt, I wouldn't just give the spot to Stewart, either. I'm not talking about throwing $5 million at Greg Zaun this offseason, but look around for someone who can do a good enough job. Torrealba would be a good option, and I don't think he's the 'future' of the Rockies. I don't see how having a crappy backup catcher next year is any different than having no backup CFer on the roster this season.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 28, 2006 -> 12:34 AM) I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Josh Fields isn't close to having a short enough swing to be a good MLB hitter. If we can re-sign Crede quickly this offseason, Fields should be used as a major trade chip. I know the Padres and Phillies love him. Ditto. Maybe Kenny can sucker Gillick into a 'win now' mode and offer Garcia + Fields for Hamels... Then again, maybe no suckering would be needed for a trade like that.

8 Ks. But he's not Cy f***ing Young, people!

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Sep 28, 2006 -> 12:09 AM) better. His change up looks ridiculous. He's also doing a superb job of spotting his fastball. Stewart is calling for pitches up, down, in and out, and McCarthy is hitting his spot almost every time. Very nice to see.

I see the Gary Matthews Jr calls have begun. Two terms come to mind when thinking about him: fluke, and career year. Guy just turned 32 years old. Just what we need, another aging player signed to a big contract.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Sep 27, 2006 -> 09:52 PM) One big omission in this argument is the fact that the starting lineup isn't getting much younger. Having a guy like Crawford in his prime helps the sox have a guy who'll be around for years. Right now, it's Crede and Anderson in their 20's [i don't count Uribe, who likely is gone. Hell, with Crawford added Cintron could play SS]. I know Sweeney is on the cusp of contributing. Though it certainly seems like Anderson has burnt some sox bridges this yr. The Sox still need position players to build around. They have with PK, Thome, Dye and AJ. But they need complimentary players at the other spots. Crawford is as complimentary [with his speed, defense, top of the order ability] to the sox roster as they come. This Anderson persecution from certain media members sure seems like the crap Garland got for not being more "emotional" during his pre-2005 years. Did Anderson not punch enough lockers and throw enough stools when he was slumping to be considered 'competitive' and 'gritty'? What's the story here? Because every time I've heard Anderson talk, or seen someone that I actually respect talk about Anderson, I've never gotten a bad impression from him. Sure, hitting .230 didn't do a whole lot to help his cause, but why does it seem like Anderson is now being labeled as a guy with attitude problems? Why not?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Sep 27, 2006 -> 09:14 PM) way to highlight the part of your post that doesnt make any sense. I guess getting on base matters more to you, thats fine, I prefer my team scoring runs, it usually helps out the final score a little more than just standing on the base. I didn't know Dusty Baker was a Soxtalk contributer...

Oakland clinches! Go get another ring, Frank! LET'S GO OAK-LAND!

Here's my one question about the pitching staff... At the beginning of the season, part of the reason that the Sox went out and placed six starters on the 25-man roster was to limit the innings on the arms of our four returning starters from last year's playoff run. We were told that, to avoid fatigue, McCarthy would get occasional spot starts. How many starts did McCarthy get this year? One. One start. That's why I cringe when people even bring up Buehrle and Garcia injuries. I cringe when I see Don Cooper come out and say Freddy was pitching hurt, or that Buehrle was pitching through pain, or injury, or fatigue, or whatever it was that caused the worst two seasons in both careers of the pitchers I mentioned. Somebody f***ed up. Somebody f***ed up big time. Whoever told, or allowed Garcia to keep pitching through his injury needs to be talked to. I respect trying to play through pain, but not when it gets to the point where you're hurting your team. You're telling me that Garcia couldn't have used a DL trip in July or August, where, in both months combined, he gave us about 70 innings of an ERA north of five-and-a-half? You're telling me Buehrle couldn't have used a rest in July, a month in which he gave up 34 (!) earned runs? BTW, I'll say it right now -- I doubt that McCarthy starting three-seven more games is/was the difference between the Sox being an 89 win team vs a 93 win team. But I sure as hell would've liked to have seen McCarthy used in more of a spot starter role, the role that we were told he'd be used in to start the season... Nah, I wouldn't have booed the players on Sunday. What's that going to accomplish? This is a team that is going to finish with the sixth best record in baseball. It's unfortunate that this year, two teams ahead of you are also two teams in your division, but that's baseball. There are certain guys who I don't think were giving full effort all the time, but collectively, I don't think they 'dogged' it. As far as being 'tired' down the stretch -- yeah, I believe that they're tired -- but so is every other team. And our bench was plenty equipped to take more starts away from our starters. Gload could've played more at first. Mackowiak could've played more in RF and 3B, rather than going in for Anderson every other day. And, who are these decisions left up to? The manager. Ozzie didn't use one ounce of creativity this year. I keep hearing players say he doesn't go by the book. WTF games are they watching? That's all Ozzie does. He plays every R/L matchup on the name of the earth, when it comes to our bullpen; f***, I remember he wouldn't let Matt Thorton pitch to Omar freakin' Infante. Then there's the handling of Anderson throughout the season, to allowing Scott Podsednik, of the .298 OBP variety in the second half, to battle through his struggles despite the fact that there were three better options on the bench and two better options (at least) down at Charlotte. Overall, it was a fairly dissappointing year, but I'm happy that we were in a pennant race for most of the season. I'm happy that the fans, by averaging 35K or whatever it was this year, have allowed Kenny to maybe even delve into that $100 million dollar payroll range. And, most importantly, I look forward to the challenge of getting to October in 2007. Goodnight, America.

So, for those of us with the Ozzie plan, we were offered one ALDS game or two ALCS games. I chose the latter. Do I get my money refunded, or do I not get it back period, or does that money go to games for next year?

Come on, Rowand, try one on. LET'S GO OAK-LAND!

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Sep 25, 2006 -> 04:22 AM) I would take him as our left fielder for next season. I can't tell if you're being serious or not, but it is a fairly good idea. I know he's an a-hole and all, but he's an a-hole who is still putting up a .461 OBP this year. It'd make sense for the Sox, too, as they could give Sweeney one more year at Charlotte so he could take over in 2008. So long as you don't put him ahead of GIDP err Konerko, you'd be alright. Of course, you'd have to deal with the daily barrage of assualt from the media and fans, so....

Why the hell hasn't Marrioti written an article on Thomas? Isn't he a clubhouse cancer? Why aren't the A's in the cellar with the "Big Skirt" at the helm? Go Frank!