CWSGuy406

Also a little fun (albeit useless, Jason Stark or Tim Kurkjian style) fact here that's semi-related to my last post. Jerry Owens will turn 27 (!!!) in February. Jon Garland will turn 28 at the end of this month.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 10, 2007 -> 05:07 PM) Believe me, I'd rather have Rowand or Hunter or someone else high caliber out there in CF in 2008, and have Owens as the 4th OF, if that situation can work. But if we can't get that done, I think Owens will probably do OK in a full season out there. He would probably be better than we got out of the CF position offensively in 2005, 2006 or 2007. I'll repeat what I've said several times -- if Jerry Owens is a starter on Opening Day for the 2008 White Sox, something will have gone horribly, horribly wrong this winter. And if, by saying"Owens will probably do OK", you mean that Owens will hit .260/.315/.300, that's fine. I don't consider that "okay". That's awful, and it's keeping the same BS low standards we've had since Podsednik came aboard. And no, Owens hitting .260/.315/.300 wouldn't be acceptable if he was hitting ninth, either -- we're already going to be carrying one (relatively) weak bat next season at 2B in Richar, we can't afford another. Richar is, or should be, our one and only "experiment" for 2008 -- the other spots need to be filled with good prospects (like Josh Fields) or solid FA performers (Andruw Jones).

QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 10, 2007 -> 03:58 AM) Go grab a beer. Celebrate. I didn't grab a beer, but I did celebrate. Not only did the Sox gain a game on Tampa, they also helped me win $15. And Thome homered, and Garland pitched well. Great game all around, as fathom said.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Sep 10, 2007 -> 02:45 AM) Well, Clement's bat is still a big question mark, if you ask me, and if he is brought in, I don't see Pierzynski being kept as it would make no sense to a) have to lefty catcher and B) have clement spend the year in the minors. Plus, I have a feeling that Hall is going to be tradded and Lucy will be the back up. If the Sox brought in Clement, they could stash him away at AAA for another season -- catcher's take longer to develop as is and at 24 years old, spending one more season at AA wouldn't be the worst thing. They could also keep him along as a backup catcher, have him learn a little from AJ before taking over full-time in 2009. Lucy shouldn't be more than an organizational filler, this year's version of Wiki Gonzalez or Gustavo Molina. He is not a prospect and even if all goes well, he'll be a backup major league catcher. Masset has very little trade value. The Sox thought they were getting something else than what they really got. Phillips' value is similarly low -- I'd bet the Sox have been trying to get something (reasonably) useful for him for the past 18 months without success. He has no place in this organization. Maybe he could do okay pitching in a big park in the NL, but there's a lot of other AAAA types who fit that same description. And I'd say Haeger holds more value to the Sox than to any other team. I can't see another team giving up something useful for a knuckler, but on the other hand, the Sox shouldn't just give him away for nothing. Chuck has his value and I can see him being a useful part to the Sox in the next couple years.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 10, 2007 -> 02:21 AM) We're not going to add Heath Phillips to any offer so that another team will give us a top prospect. Heath's contract situation and mediocrity say, No. Lillibridge for Phillips? Seems rather fair to me... (I really hope the 'wink' smiley was unneccessary, here.)

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Sep 10, 2007 -> 02:00 AM) And Seattle loves Garland as well. So we've got options, and I hope KW isn't locked in to just trading Garland to improve the pen, he has to fill other needs and improve the farm system, he's got a LOT of work to do this off-season. 3E8 has been bringing up Seattle for the past couple months and they really make sense. I thought I remember reading a Seattle 'higher-up' having a liking for Garland. If we're dealing with Seattle, the guys the Sox should be looking at seems rather obvious to me -- Clement and Balintien. Both appear to be blocked, at least for 2008 and maybe even a year or two beyond that. In the OF Seattle has Jones, Ichiro and the newly-locked-up Jose Guillen, and behind the plate they have Johjima. I doubt the Sox could get both, unfortunately -- perhaps Sweeney + Garland could net both? EDIT: Damn does the offseason need to get here ASAP. In the meantime, please keep giving me easy-money bets like Santana vs Garland and tomorrow's Floyd vs Carmona matchup.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 10, 2007 -> 01:48 AM) Does Schuerholz trade Renteria + Lillibridge for Garland + money? I don't think so. There's a reason they wanted to do it straight up for Garland and that was when he was actually doing good and not spouting off about his "natural knot." Besides, Lillibridge has significant trade value, and so does Renteria. Schuerholz will be looking to maximize it, and this should be a creative offseason on Schuerholz' part as he's got a few SP holes to fill and many different ways to fill it. So no, I doubt he does that. Even with Garland's hot start to the season, I'd guess most GMs understand that he's going to be a league average pitcher who will be better helped by pitching in a bigger ballpark or in the NL. And even if "most GMs" isn't a fair comment, I'm pretty sure JS knows that he'd basically be getting a 3.75-4.50 ERA pitcher (plus the added benefit of a guy who will give you 200 innings), not the 3.40 pitcher Garland was in the first half of this season. I don't know how high Lillibridge's value is, either. He's a nice piece to have, no doubt, but his cumulative OPS in the minors this season didn't even top .760. I'm not sure how his defense rates, but I'd say he's a B or C+ prospect, somewhere in that range. I also added the "???s" to show that something would need to be added on the Sox' part. Offensively Atlanta everywhere except for the OF where they'll have to fill Jones' shoes. They might need a new LFer, too, but I don't think the Sox can help ATL out there. The Sox might be able to add some more pitching, depending on whether JS likes any of the AAAA arms the Sox have.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 10, 2007 -> 12:42 AM) My brother and I were talking about how suspicious so many Orioles players were, in terms of previous steroid use. One of the many guys I projected that was on the juice was Jay Gibbons. Look for the story to come out later tonight that he was one of the guys who used that Florida pharmacy. And just like that. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/base...robe/index.html These next five months are going to be very interesting, that's for sure. I wonder who the first Sox or Cub player (ex or current) will be...

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 10, 2007 -> 12:08 AM) Are you kidding? Garland's trade value blows Garcia's trade value out of the water. I think Garland's value is better than Garcia's, but not a giant amount. I'd say something like this -- if you got two prospects the caliber of Gio Gonzalez (B type prospects -- nobody's Chris Young or anything of the sort), I'd think that's pretty reasonable. I don't see the fit with Colorado, though. Garland to Atlanta makes some sense -- their rotation is trash beyond the top two -- but I don't know if the money makes sense unless the guy we're getting back is Renteria. I'd do something like Garland + ??? for Renteria and Lillibridge, but I don't know if JS makes that trade (could I have set up a more perfect cue for Pratt's entrance?).

As far as SSs for next year, what about Jack Wilson? He's (quietly?) having the second best season of his career, putting up a 96 OPS+ (.286/.342/.416). The Pirates seem to want to get Izturis more at-bats and even looked to dump Wilson to Detroit and Toronto earlier in the season. I know Pittsburg's GM job is in the air, but I wonder if they'd do a straight up "bad contract for bad contract" swap, Contreras for Wilson. The Sox would probably have to chip in some cash to even things out. BTW -- I don't think Wilson is that great of a player, or even as good as he's been this season. But he's a pretty strong defender, IIRC, and at the very least, you can count on him to give you a .310 OBP, something we haven't had since 2004 (and that only half counts, as Valentin was still getting most of the at-bats.

If he can get over that, Juan can be an elite player. That's some hard-hitting analysis, Walk.

I'm pretty pissed about today, but I think the Bears should be okay. It took some really really fluky s*** (Berrian basically 'quitting' on a route; the awful punt and subsequent bounce off McGowan; Benson and AP BOTH fumbling) for the Bears to basically give that game to San Diego. San Diego's D was impressive but their offense was marginally better than the Bears'. And I still despise Ron Turner's offense. Very little creativity. How about giving Benson some room in the single back set instead of running the ball out of the i-form every f***ing time? It just sucks that these Wisconsin f***s are going to have a field day tomorrow with Green Bay and the Brewers both winning. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather have the Brewers fans talking s*** than the Cubs fans, but Wisconsin rooters are all pretty scummy.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 9, 2007 -> 05:30 PM) No doubt in my mind he deserves more MVP votes than Ordonez this year. Unfortunately, there's not a chance in hell that happens. The voters have no clue what the words "positional adjustments" mean, and the Tigers aren't making the playoffs as of today, and God forbid you EVER vote for an MVP on a non-playoff team. At this point it's quite clearly A-Rod's to lose.

New England drives 90+ yards on their first drive to a TD. Maroney looked really good and Moss caught a pass.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Sep 9, 2007 -> 05:31 AM) So a draft pick that can actually have an impact for this organization is meaningless yet a game that can't do anything for this franchise has meaning? Useless response, Rowand... EDIT: Useless to respond is probably better wording.

QUOTE(JDsDirtySox @ Sep 8, 2007 -> 05:50 PM) Today is the day... My prediction: Hendo by unanimous decision. Whoops. --------------------------- I was pretty pissed about the Bisping decision, too. After the fight, Bisbing had the "I lost" body language while Hamill's trainer/friend was carrying him around the ring. I was pretty stunned with the split decision to Bisping.

So to kick us fans in the balls a little bit more, is this the part where the Sox go on a small winning streak at the end of the season to end up with the fifth overall pick instead of #2? 'Cause that's what I'm feelin'...

http://www.hiphopmusicdotcom.com/kanye-wes...-goodnight.html Kanye with Mos Def. Good work.

7th Floor Crew member Greg Olsen is doubtful for this weekend? Shucks...

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Sep 7, 2007 -> 06:52 PM) SI is reporting that Troy Glaus received multiple shipments of performance-enhancing steroids in 2003 and 2004 while with Anaheim. I can't believe Darin would let something like this happen on his watch! http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/base...robe/index.html And so it begins. I really wonder what the public's response is going to be when they find out that -- goodness! -- Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi weren't the only two doin' some ad things.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 7, 2007 -> 05:57 AM) I think people will be amazed at just how many players were/are doing HGH. Yep. It still amazes me that people use the "he's a cheater!" response for not wanting Bonds. Those using that reasoning really are turning a blind eye to players that they probably rooted for very hard who were doing the same exact stuff. And I don't necessarily think less of any of these guys, either. When you see one guy getting bigger and stronger and recovering quicker -- along with the other perceived and/or real benefits -- it's gotta cross your mind that maybe you should try some 'things', especially when baseball was basically turning their cheek to this.

Have we figured out why the hell the Sox haven't called up Jason Bourgeois yet? I mean, I know we'd have to clear a player off the 40 man like the all-important Heath Phillips or -- even better -- Paulino Reynoso (who, for some reason, gets protected year after year after year for no apparent reason -- good thing we protected him instead of Fabio Castro!). It would be so like the Sox to go old, expensive and crappy on the bench with Ozuna and Cintron instead of going with the two (clearly) better, cheaper and younger options in Gonzalez and Bourgeois. Also -- why aren't we seeing Oneli Perez? One would have to figure that now is the perfect time to break Oneli into the bigs. As of right now, I'd say there are three spots locked up (Jenks, Logan, Wassermann) with two more 'probable' locks (MacDougal and Thorton). Shouldn't September be an extended tryout for guys like Aardsma, Perez and Vasquez? Oh right, Broadway and Heath f***ing Phillips...

Signing Abreu all but guarantees Jerry Owens getting CF, and if JO is on the 2008 team in anything more than a 4th OFer role, we're in trouble.

QUOTE(MHizzle85 @ Sep 5, 2007 -> 11:36 PM) You sir, are crazy. In Da Club, d00d! I'm very excited for T.I. tomorrow night. It's my first rap/hip-hop concert.

Only one-and-a-half ahead (behind?) Tampa Bay. Keep on strucking, Sox.