CWSGuy406

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 18, 2006 -> 02:53 PM) IN the playoffs-speed wins games. Heh. From watching the playoffs last year, it seems to me that lots of homers and good pitching wins in the playoffs. (I'll also add 'good defense' to that, too.)

QUOTE(kwolf68 @ Aug 18, 2006 -> 03:23 PM) But I can see a situation where Crede becomes our third hitter backed by PK and DH (RF-Dye)....Still, I would want a legitimate rabbit leading off, maybe it'd be SS with Iguchi/Getz hitting 2nd. Thing is, I don't believe we have much of a minor league at this point...Only Sweeney/Fields/Getz look like major league position players at this point and even they have questions (Sweeney limited power for a corner OF? Fields Ks a lot? Getz average is down a bit right now)...We don't have our version of Howie Kendrick in other words. I hate to burst your bubble, but Getz has a LONG way to go, and it's really hard to put him in the same sentence as guys like Sweeney and Fields. He's putting up a .254/.320/.323 line at Birmingham; I'd be very surprised to see if the FutureSox guys even put him in the Top 15, much less the Top 20, of their midseason rankings. Not a chance in hell that Epstein includes Hansen. Garcie-for-Crisp is questionable as is; I just brought it up because of the rumored Buehrle-for-Crisp deal at the deadline.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Aug 18, 2006 -> 03:42 AM) And you hope you can convince a pisspoor GM like Brian Sabean that he is still a spark and is still a good ballplayer, and maybe get an arm or two out of him. I know that farm system basically 'developed' Liriano and Matt Cain, but there isn't a whole lot of 'prospects' in that organization. They're in some trouble as the post-Bonds era begins next year.

Heckuva matchup down there in Birmingham -- Egbert vs Broadway. Egbert struck out nine but walked seven. Broadway wasn't bad, either, but he walked four (along with four hits), and he gave up a homer. Boone Logan also had a pretty good night, two-and-two-thirds innings while striking two. He did give up an unearned run. Sweeney's night at the plate will, again, put his OBP above .350 and his SLG% above .450. Hopefully he can finish the season strong with an OPS around .825. I have to figure out what bandwagon I'll be on when the offseason starts. I think I'm really wanting to see Sweeney playing LF full-time next year. But I'm conflicted, because I'd also like to see talks between Chicago and Boston rekindled (Coco Crisp for Freddy G).

And Blalock is about to be toast... and there he goes.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Aug 15, 2006 -> 03:22 PM) This is the first year Beane can take any credit.... all those other playoff teams were thanks to having 3 aces on your pitching staff he never drafted. pwned Ehh, I think they're meat in the first round for whoever they face, especially if Rich Harden isn't healthy. Their lineup isn't better than any of the playoff contenders, and throwing while Haren + Zito are good up front, they need some help beyond that. If Harden IS healthy, that changes things, but the way things are going, I doubt he'd be able to throw more than five innings.

It's come to that point in the game where DJ tries to puff up a s***ty pitcher into a great one.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 14, 2006 -> 05:59 PM) You know, out of all the potential "Leadoff hitter/LF" names to come up, that one might actually make the most sense, in that he could be available, the Red Sox have several outfielders already, they need SP, and have money to take on a veteran. Yeah, I tend to like the possibility of a Freddy Garcia for Coco Crisp trade. Crisp isn't an ideal leadoff hitter, in that his OBP probably won't be higher than .350, but it'll be in the right around .340. He's been bitten by injuries this year, and I don't think he's fully recovered from that (hand?) injury he had early on. I also like that his defense would be a big upgrade over Podsednik's. IIRC last season he was rated as the best defensive LFer. He's actually a pretty similar player to Curtis Granderson, except that Crisp can steal 15-20 bags a year.

So in other words, he's most likely a future fourth OFer. Hopefully he can learn to play CF a little bit better, too, as he'd be pretty useless if he can only play LF. I also hope the Sox aim a little higher than another version of Scott Podsednik over the next couple years (like going after Chone Figgins or Juan Pierre). I much prefer the Curtis Granderson type leadoff man (similar OBP, similar batting average, but more slugging) to the slap hitting types.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 14, 2006 -> 12:24 AM) A 24 year old right handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic. He's 6'4, 195 pounds. Thanks for reading me his player profile. Appreciate it... Anyone know why he's on the 40-man?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 10:25 PM) There's a couple of schools of thought on that. I think it'd be a sure thing Fields comes up if he was on the 40 man, but he isn't.... True, but there is room on the 40-man -- three spots, to be exact. Speaking of the 40-man... Who is Edwardo Sierra, and what is he doing on the roster? Fields would immediately become our best right-handed power option off of the bench. Heck, if he's as athletic as everybody lets on, I wouldn't mind starting him in LF some days in September, when there's a lefty on the mound. But, yeah, the five who should definitely get a shot up here are Owens, Tracey, Stewart, Logan, and Fields. Who knows, maybe (hopefully) they can strike a deal with Cruz Jr and then we wouldn't really need Fields.

If Konerko turns around a Zumaya fastball, I hope he gives Zumaya a picture perfect bat flip. He needs a little of his own medicine after his domination of us last series.

Freddy tends to settle down after the first couple innings. He seems to be able to figure out what pitches are working for him, and which pitches aren't. Of course, there's games like the one in KC where he doesn't really settle down. I personally hope he ditches his fastball the rest of the game and just throws his junk up there; it worked well against the Yanks...

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 04:34 AM) He's better than Mack, Ozuna, and Pods. And Jose Cruz Jr. effin blows. I'm in on this, although the avatar gives it away obviously. How does Cruz Jr "blow" to you, yet you have an avatar of Preston Wilson? He plays a decent CF, according (apparently) to Jason, and his BP defensive stats rate very well in all three OF spots. Offensively, the past two year against lefties, he's put up OPS' of .951 and .942. Cruz is really an ideal option for the Sox, as he'd be the perfect platoon for Pods. He also hasn't been a full-time player since 2004, and he'd be coming to one of the best teams in baseball, so I doubt he'd have a problem riding the pine.

There's yet another backup OF option now on the market for the Sox, if they choose to go that route... Preston Wilson DFA'd He's a guy who can hit lefties well (ie, a platoon for Podsednik): .312/.379/.416 this year in 77 ABs, and in 2005, .262/.336/.571 in 126 ABs. I really hope the Sox pick up one of the two recently released OFers (the other being Cruz Jr), even if it is only for September. I'd much rather send Wilson/Cruz Jr up against Johan Santana down the stretch than Ozuna.

I bought V for Vendetta and watched it again. I absolutely love that movie. By watching it a second time, I was also able to figure out the connection between the whole St. Marys and Lock (sp?) Hill incidents. It definitely has become one of my favorites...

Talk about a brutal pitch by Buehrle. Casey hasn't been looking to go opposite field all day; his swing right now is so pull happy. Not only does he speed up Casey's bat by throwing that curveball, but he throws in on the inner half. That's not a good job by Alomar or whoever is calling pitches. 3-0. Great.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Aug 12, 2006 -> 04:39 AM) I saw him play in cincy, and he was terrible. The fans were (suprisingly) all over him (kind suprised because their scoreboard shows OBP and SLG%.) Heh, you talking about this year? Dunn was absolutely shut down by Sox pitching in that series. Him and Griffey Jr, IIRC. And you really can't b**** about his batting average this year -- even though it is the 'weakest' (for lack of a better word) of the three (BA, OBP, SLG) -- he's at .258 right now. He's even hitting well with RISP, something he usually doesn't do. He's got an OPS over 1.000 with RISP and with RISP and two outs. His only real problem is that he's brutal defensively in LF; they probably should sell high on Hatteberg and stick Dunn there for good.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Aug 11, 2006 -> 08:37 PM) He's played mostly RF and CF with what looks like 12-15 games in LF. I'm judging this based on his ABs by position in his splits so it's not an exact science. Yeah, you and Balta were correct, I was wrong. Sweeney has had 160 ABs as a RFer, 151 ABs as a CFer, and 49 ABs as a left fielder. BTW, bringing up Boone Logan again, he was absolutely dominant in July. 14 IP, 22 Ks-to-4 BBs, and only six hits allowed. The OPS against him that month? .403!

Balta; I believe that Sweeney has actually spent a majority of this year playing LF/CF, although I could be wrong. I'm interested to see where you guys will have Boone Logan. After getting sent back down to Charlotte, he was still getting killed by AAA hitters. As of a month or two ago, however, he's been dominant. Look at his peripherals; 45 Ks in just over 32 IP, and just 27 hits allowed. Here's a first-hand account from a poster at SouthSideSox of Logan pitching last night:

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 06:43 PM) My point is I guess, in short, Broadway is going to be very good as is McCarthy. Hell, they are better than our starters right now probably. I don't mean to add on to the Broadway bashing in any way, but you can't really be serious about comparing Broadway and McCarthy. McCarthy's K/BB ratio is almost double Broadway's. McCarthy has already proven that he can be semi-successful at the big league level, not to mention AAA. We've seen McCarthy have three big league pitches. I've heard rave reviews about Broadway's curveball, but his changeup doesn't seem where it needs to be yet, and he's not doing a great job of fooling the hitters right now; he only has 100 Ks in something like 142 IP. I think Broadway has a chance to be a good #5 innings eater who can put up a league average ERA or so, but my expectations aren't a whole lot higher than that.

Well, there is one reasonable option out there... Jose Cruz Jr. Of course, that'd mean that one of Gload or Ozuna would have to go. BTW -- the culprit of that 7th inning rally, which was killed, was AJ. 2-1 pitch, Villone had just thrown six of seven balls, and that pitch was several inches inside. AJ has been great this year, but man... he doesn't see a whole lot of pitches that he doesn't like.

JOE CREDE!!!!!!!!!

I still think it's hilarious that he was pretty much the scapegoat in Chicago for a couple of years, and was even described as a clubhouse cancer. I'm obviously not 'there' every day with Oakland, but the players there seem to love him. This has really been an awesome season for Frank.

I'm starting to grow a little more optimistic with Sweeney. I liked the 'package' (for lack of a better word) that I saw in the couple of Spring Training games I saw, but he never backed it up with production. Now, I understand that for the most part of his career, he's been young for his league. This year, however, it has seemed to be different. He's basically gotten better, statistically speaking, every month. His slugging percentage has improved every month; 385, to 413, to 436, to 485, to (in limited August ABs) 625. Right now, it sits just shy of .450. To put that into perspective, he didn't even slug .450 in rookie ball! While I also realize that there is a large discrepency in how he hits at Charlotte as opposed to on the road, neither his OBP or BA suffer. His BAPIP is actually higher on the road. I personally don't view Sweeney as a future replacement for Jermaine Dye. I just can't see Sweeney, in as soon as three years, being a 25-35 homer guy, which is what we'd lose if Dye went (I'm talking about 2009 and beyond -- I hope JD is here for beyond 2007). If Sweeney continues his improvement throughout the rest of the season, though, I think he might be in the mix to be the starting LFer next year. Tom, or anyone else who has seen him live -- I thought I remember you guys saying that Sweeney would be an above average LFer. Can someone describe his defense? I assume he's doing a pretty damn good job out in left for Razor to be putting him in CF some (most?) days...