CWSGuy406

See, or scenario's statement to be correct, you have to be willing to believe that young players who play at a slightly higher level than they've played at before is the same thing as having a "career best year" -- which is completely ludacris logic. ------------------------ I'd say the biggest downfall on this team is looking like it's defense. I can see scenarios where our offense 'collectively' is well above average. I can see scenarios where I see the rotation being average or a bit better than average. I can see scenarios where the bullpen is dy-no-mite(!). But I can't see any scenarios where this Sox team as currently constructed is -- at best -- average defensively. I see two *clearly* above average defenders, and one of those two is going to be stuck in LF when he should be in RF. I should probably amend that to three spots -- second base will probably be average or a bit better with Uribe getting time at second. ------------------------------- I don't know if it belongs here, but PECOTA's Alexei Ramirez projection would make a lot of people happy here. Anyone have it handy? I'm not a subscriber. I want to say it was along the lines of .270/.330/.450 (err, here it is from SoxMachine -- .295/.342/.452). If there's one projection that I hope PECOTA is right on, it's Ramirez -- having him as a shortstop/centerfielder for the next four years at all of $1 million bucks (per year) would be wonderful. One more edit -- I should also say that I doubt Ramirez hits that projection (formulating a projection for a guy transitioning from the Cuban league to the majors has got to be difficult).

Is Pam Ward going to get a post-game interview with Bill Belichick? But on a more serious note, which network carries the post-game press conferences?

f*** Fox, seriously -- great job having Bradshaw up there. His voice sounds like one of those old-women who has clearly been smoking for 50+ years.

Osi Umenyiora is going to be poopin' tonight! Also, Eli will no longer be a virgin after tonight. //Tells self no more immature sex jokes

Old-ass-Dolphin-folks-still-revelling-in-undefeated-season (including crack-selling Mercury Morris) >>>>>>>>>>>> Obnoxious New England fans revelling in undefeated season for the next 50 years EDIT: And my "Old ass" remark is mainly aimed at the players. Old asses.

QUOTE(Shadows @ Feb 4, 2008 -> 02:05 AM) Of course it wont, well never be at the same place at the same time.. thats why I said WISH Aww come on -- you know you LOLed at my wonderfully hilaripus comment.

Well, at least a Dolphin won something this year. up top!

One of the women killed graduated grade-school with my brother. She had a brother two years older than me and a sister a year younger than me, both of whom went to the same grade-school as me. My thoughts go out to those families who lost loved ones yesterday in such a senseless, despicable act.

Err -- I see Deadspin has embedded it. Hopefully that thing will stay up for a long, long time.

Damn greasy, you beat me to the punch -- is there any way to save these videos to your computer anymore? I doubt this video is going to be up very long.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Jan 31, 2008 -> 08:40 PM) Well if DT only goes after one guy it should be Hossa. I am actually satisfied with the play of the D for the most part. Sure they could use someone but the D has played well for the most part. By the competing part I mean for the Cup and not to make it as an 8 seed. The only problem with Hossa is that he's going to get both a lot of money and a lot of years -- he'll almost certainly be looking for what Daniel Briere got (8/$52), and that's a lot of money to have tied up when you're going to have to pay Kane and Toews big bucks during most of those years as well. Tallon would get ripped apart for standing pat, but really, would the following group be so terrible? Kane - Toews - Havlat Sharp - Lang - Skille Ruutu - Kontiola - Williams Bourque - Bolland - Burish Dowell/Eager (Note: This obviously isn't going to happen and at this point, I'm speculating waaay too much and waaay too far into the future -- much more than I care to do.)

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Jan 31, 2008 -> 08:27 PM) These guys are still a Top 3 forward, Top 2 defenseman and top Goalie away from really competing... They're "competing" fine even without those listed above. How many games have Toews and Havlat missed combined? That doesn't even bring up other valuable players like Williams, Sopel and Wisniewski who have all missed several games. The Hawks really aren't terribly far away. When everyone's healthy, I'd say they're anywhere from the 7th-10th best team in the West (that's an unscientific observation, so don't put too much into that). Tallon's job this summer should be identifying ONE guy to go after -- be it Campbell or even someone like Hossa. He can't go all willy-nilly with money -- he's gotta earmark a good chunk of that money for guys like Seabrook, Keith, Wizzer, and hell, looking down the line a bit, Toews and Kane. Of course, I don't know if Savard is the guy who's going to lead them to where they (eventually) need to be -- and that might be a bigger issue than the actual players on the team.

QUOTE(daa84 @ Jan 26, 2008 -> 08:25 PM) what about if porcello fizzles out? If Poreda turned out to be a fireballing lefty reliever (Matt Thorton version 2006, making the comparison for the umpteenth time), I think Sox fans should be pretty happy. I know it sucks that we didn't draft Porcello, but folks need to bear in mind that the expected value of a pick in the mid-20s isn't all that great. Getting a quality setup man obviously wouldn't be ideal, but it certainly wouldn't be something to be ashamed of. In fact, a smart move might be to let Poreda start for the first half of the year and then turn him into a reliever in July -- that would limit his innings and, if Kenny is right and this team is good enough to compete, there's a chance Poreda could help the team out in August or September.

It's wierd to think the Hawks are only six points out of a playoff spot considering EVERYTHING that's gone wrong this year. Of course, they only have to jump about 25 teams to get to that 8th spot, but six points is doable -- I'm sorry, I'm just greedy... even for a first-round one-and-done.

You guys would've been better served just going with the "Heads22" award.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jan 30, 2008 -> 02:51 AM) Dominic James with one of the uglier performances I've ever seen tonight. Don't single out James -- McNeal was just as terrible. At least when James was in the game, he brought it on the defensive end. McNeal would've been better suited just not dressing tonight. Wes Matthews bailed the team out big-time tonight, and if they play the next two games the way they've played the last four, they're not going to come within ten of either game.

QUOTE(Fantl916 @ Jan 29, 2008 -> 09:28 PM) 1B: KOnerko > C. Guillen > Garko Not according to last year. Considering age, it's more like: Guillen > Konerko = Garko Nope: Polanco > Cabrera > Richar/Uribe The OC is probably the worst here, too, based on age, although in his defense, The OC is probably the best defender. I'd guess Swisher is probably the worst of the group (no slight on Swisher, either). He has a chance to be the best hitter of the group, but he's also going to be the worst defender (by what will most likely be a wide margin) as well as the worst baserunner. Cripes -- what can Thome do to catch a break in this city? How could you even ponder putting Sheffield ahead of Thome? Heck -- so long as he stays relatively healthy (which is probably a pretty big "if" -- he has a good shot at being better than Hafner, too.

QUOTE(ptatc @ Jan 29, 2008 -> 10:00 PM) Thank You Bill James for the rhetoric about base stealing is only effective with a 75% success rate. I won't argue the numbers for base stealing. My point is that speed or even the threat of speed has a much greater effect on the game than the numbers can analyze. Look at the number of stressful pitches the starter threw or the number of pickoff attempts. All of these have a greater impact on the pitcher than just the OBP guy. I'm certainly not going to say that a player with a .330 OBP but who can steal 50 bases is more valuable than any number of .330 OBP/.450 SLG types that you can find every offseason. You see... I prefer the player that doesn't have to steal second base -- I prefer the player that's already on second base because he hit a double and doesn't have to worry about stealing second. That puts stress on the pitcher too -- if he gives up a single, he gives up a run. And I'm no way against a player being fast, by the way -- it's a great tool to have. But the people that still think these .270/.330/.350 (but with SPEED!) LFers (or CFers when there's a much better option available -- see Owens, Jerry versus Quentin, Carlos) are in any way good gives me a nice chuckle.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Jan 29, 2008 -> 10:47 PM) Find the closest person to you, and tell them to punch you in the face. I take it if we ever went on a road trip to Cincy again, you won't want to listen to the stylings of Wutang Clan on my iPod? Bummer.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Jan 29, 2008 -> 10:20 PM) Let's review: White kid About 12 years old at the time Yeah, you deserved it. Oh come on, give me a break -- it was closer to 14. Also, another example for Kid Gleason (goin' real 'hood' with this one): "It finna be cold up in here."

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 29, 2008 -> 07:56 PM) I disagree. He also happened to be hurt at about the same time the pitching went into the crapper for a bit. I don't think it had much to do with his absence. Pods' career with the White Sox was basically what should've been expected -- one half-year of being pretty decent (fluke?) and two-and-a-half years of being wretched. That doesn't make the trade a bad one, mind you, but the money cleared (and subsequentally used to fill other holes) is a much better reason why that trade was a good one. Also... it's never brought up that when Podsednik was hurt, the players filling in were worse than wretched in Ozuna (OPS+ of 70) and Timo (OPS+ of... boy this hurts to type... 48 -- bless that man for using up all 48 of those points -- if that's even possible -- in every clutch situation). So even Podsednik's below-average OPS+ of 86 was a wonderful improvement. And FWIW... I also remember in the second half of 2005 -- WITH MY VERY OWN EYES!!!!! -- that Podsednik absolutely killed the Sox already poor offense by trying to steal the few times he did get on-base (.326 OBP in the 2nd half, thanks Scott). I can vividly remember people like fathom and myself going apes*** over Pods trying to steal on one leg (insert comment about that being like any other gamethread).

QUOTE(Brian @ Jan 29, 2008 -> 06:12 PM) I have NEVER used the word "Finna", just for the record. Certain posters on this board have (or had -- as of a few years ago) never heard of the word "finna". I was 'lambasted' (okay, that's too strong, but I'm gonna go with it) for it the whole weekend because I was the lone person who had heard of it.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2008 -> 10:12 PM) If he gets 400 PA's though...while he's used as a sub that allows us to keep Quentin, Swisher, and in order of increasing importance Konerko, Dye, and Thome healthy...then he is not a bad option at all. And if I were the one running things, which thankfully I'm not...that's how I'd use him, as a quasi-everyday OF, shifting around either him or Swisher so that I can make sure that my guys, especially the old guys like Dye and Thome who clearly we've seen can get banged up and struggle because of it, then I think everyone would be pretty happy. Well, if we wanted (or still want) a guy like that, someone like Mark DeRosa would be a better option, seeing that he can play more than LF and CF (well, he can't play CF, but if Ramirez is kept on the roster he can play there). And, you know, DeRosa can actually hit the ball where as Owens (for all intents and purposes) can't.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jan 28, 2008 -> 09:16 PM) I'd love to have grady sizemore too. I'd really love if Quentin was a CF, or we were confident in Swisher in CF. But we're not. And owens hasn't been handed CF. The notion though, that if he enters the season at CF, we are screwed, is stupid. If he's there, it's because he showed he is gonna produce at a high level. It doesn't mean that at all. So if he hits .500 during Spring Training, it means he's going to produce as a high level? Owens ZiPS are a pretty fair estimate -- and they have no bias (that I or you may hold): .261/.325/.338. (*Note*: That's not to say he'll hit that line exactly, but when your 'optimistic' line is .290/.355/.370, it's pretty safe to say you can be categorized as a thoroughly mediocre hitter.) SS2k brought up Otis Nixon, a very quick glance tells me that seems to be a pretty fair comp -- league average OBP, absolutely miserable slugging percentage with 50+ SBs a year (at a 75% clip). That's fine for a fourth outfielder, but I don't want a player like that starting for me (especially when there are better options -- i.e. Quentin). Butler, OTOH, doesn't seem like a great comp.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jan 28, 2008 -> 08:59 PM) "sox fans" don't seem to equate 'speedy' and 'slap-hitty' with good, they recognize that if owens can get on base at a high level at the top of the order it won't be a tragedy to have him starting. Do I want him to start? No. I already stated that, you are arguing against a ghost you've created in your head, kind of like how you've decided on who owens is already. But if Owens plays at the level I'm speaking of, considering he can play CF, and makes it out of ST the starter, it will not be this end of the world that some hyperbolic sox talkers claim it will be just b/c they've already decided on how owens will produce. My apologies for not engaging in the fantasy world where Owens is going to hit .310/.380/... We can do that with just about every player -- it'sbasically like saying, "if X was good, he'd be a good baseball player!" Yes, obviously if Owens could sustain a .380 OBP the Sox ought to find a place for him. I'd say that about any player who could do that -- I don't see how a statement like that raises the level of discourse on this site. No -- not at all -- but you go ahead and think that if you'd like.