CWSGuy406

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 02:18 AM) Just because the Red Sox gave up a lot for him, it does not make WMP worth that much. OBP by year: .283, .316, .304, .349, .301 The slugging is there, but a better version of Joe Borchard doesn't mean he's a good hitter. For his career he's been a .258/.314/.473 line, that's while being jerked around by two different organizations. I think if given regular playing time, he could replicate that line at the very least -- I'd bet on him slugging for a good 25 points higher. I'm looking at/for guys who are sort of 'stuck' in organizations. Pena appears to be stuck, and I think he's the type the Sox are going to need to pick up (to go along with better scouting and drafting). Even if Pena were to be just an average hitter, that's still better than what the Sox have out there. And I guess in my ideal scenario involving Wily Mo, you'd sign Ichiro in the offseason, stick him in center and Sweeney in right with Terrero taking a decent amount of ABs in both corner outfield spots.

If Boston still wants help in the bullpen, I wonder if they'd consider a deal of MacDougal/Thorton and Haegar for Wily Mo Pena. Pena figures to be the odd man out in that OF, with Drew and Ramirez locking up both corners and Eric Hinske as a reasonably decent backup. They also have Jacob Ellsbury coming on strong, so I don't see where he fits in, as he gets very little time at DH. Wily Mo hit .301/.349/.489 last season in 276 ABs and putting him in LF could offset some of the power deficincies that Sweeney will have in his early major league career. I'd like to see it done. He's cheap and still only 25 years old.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 10:25 PM) I hate the feeling I have watching these games now. It's so hard not rooting for the team you love, but deep down, I know it's better off if they lose these games so that they don't have false hope. Hell, for this coming weekend, I think I'm rooting more for the Cubs to lose against the Sox than I am the Sox to win games. You're not the only one -- I feel so hand-cuffed cheering for this team right now. I mean, what does a win do for me anymore? At this point it sure seems like any win in the next couple weeks just delays the inevitable breaking up of this group. These next couple weeks might actually be very, very rough. The three starting OFers for next weeks slate of games are probably going to be Podsednik, Erstad and Dye, three guys who shouldn't be anywhere near the 2008 team. I don't want to see that, and frankly if we're subjected to those three for more than two weeks, this organization should be embarrassed. All three should be on the trading block -- find a livearmed rookie ball arm for anyone who will take either of the former two, and look for a good deal with Dye. Terrero is probably nothing more than a 4th OFer, but he's been exciting -- he's put down some good bunts, he hustles his ass off down the line and he actually has a pretty good arm. On a separate note, Fields is a very good mistake-ball hitter. He's laced some hanging curves the past few days. And his batting eye is pretty good, too. He swings and misses at a lot of pitches, but right now he's putting up a line right around where I'd expect him to be over the next year or so -- .265/.308/.449. It's a shame people are going to eventually start to b**** at him for striking out too much -- he's soooo going to get the Adam Dunn treatment in a year or so.

QUOTE(Bonderman38 @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 09:55 PM) I think the main reason the Tigers made this trade was that Mcbride has options, where Ledezma doesn't. With the Tigers haveing 7 starters soon, they need room for probably Durbin to go to the pen, or Maroth, even though he's more likely to be traded. Hmm... I'm interested in yours and Jack's opinions here -- are you sort of miffed that Ledezma was relegated to the bullpen while guys like Maroth and Durbin got shots over him? I've always liked what I've seen from Ledezma, although maybe I just catch him on his 'right' days. I'd like to see how he does in a set role as a starter.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 09:46 PM) I actually found out about the trade from a couple of scouts at a minor league game. They thought the Sox made a huge mistake. I don't mind losing Cunningham so much -- I don't think his ceiling is very high as, IIRC, Jason said he isn't anything special defensively (correct me if I'm wrong) so he won't ever be a CFer. And his bat looks pretty good, but again, nothing that really stands out. I think he can be like Matt Murton last year, slightly above average on-base skills, average-ish power and average-ish defense. But then again, he's still got to conquer AA and AAA. But yeah, I'm not doing backflips over Richar. He seems like a worse version of BJ Upton with the bad defense. Too bad he doesn't have Upton's bat.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 09:30 PM) He based his entire opinion on a couple of stats. That is wrong. Again not true. I don't know if it was in this thread, but he also brought up John Sickel's pre-season ranking of Richar in the D'Backs system -- he was unranked (Sickels lists 20) in the 'others of note' list, putting him in that 20-30 range.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 05:59 PM) You should know a little bit more before having an opinion on a subject. Do you do this with every other subject? Do you read a couple of lines of a book and determine that it sucks. Do you watch a couple minutes of a movie and decide it sucks? No comparison at all here -- apples and oranges, really, but if you choose to be ignorant to the fact that minor league statistics do, in fact, have some bearing on future performance, that's your choice. Doesn't make Hitless wrong, though... far from it.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 07:59 PM) You are going to be a very disappointed fan. Yeah, we need a middle infield prospect. Reyes. So make that Martinez, Milledge, Pelfrey and Reyes for Buehrle. Actually no deal unless Humber is also included. Yeah -- Martinez, Milledge, Pelfrey, Reyes and Humber for Buehrle. No, wait a sec, I don't want to give up Buehrle, give 'em Contreras. Martinez, Milledge, Pelfrey, Reyes and Humber for Contreras. Still kind of risky though, they should probably include one more guy.

"Dag gummit!"

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10229862 http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/6938588...3162&ATT=99 http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?i...ce=NCBHeadlines (I couldn't/wouldn't find these on my own -- thanks Cracked Sidewalks! Anyways -- never too early to talk college basketball, right? At least for those of us who don't have a D1 college football team to root for? In your face (!) fans of teams not named Kansas or UNC! Marquette ranked 10th, 10th and 13th in the above three polls. Woohoo! But seriously for a second, Marquette isn't the 10th best team in the country. They're certainly not better than Indiana who, for whatever reason, was only ranked ahead of MU in one of the polls. I'd say we're in that 15-20 range that will compete with Georgetown for second in the BE.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 04:19 AM) I never thought I'd say this, but this mess is more of KW's fault than Ozzie's right now. Not only will the Sox likely suck for the next few years, but the Tigers and Indians are going to be incredible. I think Kenny clarified himself a bit more on PTI today. He made the comment along the lines of, "if things don't pick up soon, we're obviously going to have to look at a change in direction (ie, more youngins and less vets), but hopefully it won't come to that." All I ask is that we don't get swept by the Cubs this weekend. But perhaps losing two out of three with some really embarrassing baseball will put the nails in this coffin.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 03:35 AM) It's killed our team for the last 2 years now. I'm actually a fan of the bunt but it's beyond worthless with this group. I hated the bunt idea with Iguchi. He was, and has been, doing a good job of going to right field lately. Iguchi had a 2-0 count against Lidstrom (sp?) who was struggling to find the zone. They then bailed him out by bunting and fouling it off.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 04:06 AM) I'm watching him on Comcast right now, he looks like s***. I really think Ozzie might just end up quiting. I'm thinking the same thing -- he looks awful. Yeah, he's pissed, and rightfully so. I think at this point even part of Ozzie would want this thing blown up. At least with young guys he could 'expect' the losing and the mistakes, whereas with this group, he's expecting winning (whether he's right to think that really isn't the point).

Well, Ozzie pretty much just put everything on the players in that press conference -- something he has never done in his time here. I don't know what to think...

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 03:18 AM) This team needs more Richar 0-for-4, 2 Ks in his Charlotte debut. How nice, he's fitting right in!

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 20, 2007 -> 12:48 AM) Someone seems to be using their changeup more. Keep it going. Oddly enough, Danks got burnt on his breaking stuff in the first. The pitch that Uggla crushed was a curveball that just hung, and pitch to Ramirez looked like a slider that didn't slide (it might have been a changeup).

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jun 19, 2007 -> 11:15 PM) Actually he paid Hermanson $2 million a year. Politte got $1 million, Vizcaino 1.3 million, Shingo 1 million, Marte 1.25 million. Again, I said average -- the average of the top six guys I mentioned were making a tad more than $1 million dollars a piece. Didn't say that but if you want to think that, not my problem. Yep, at four years, $16 million. You don't even know what my argument is.

Why hasn't Richar played for Charlotte yet? Nevermind -- he's in the lineup tonight.

Add another potential Buehrle bidder -- the Dodgers, just for clarification -- to the list, although I'd hope the Sox would try to offer Contreras for a much lesser package. If the Sox end up offering Buehrle, though, the first name I'm asking for is Kershaw.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jun 19, 2007 -> 08:25 PM) I also liked Otsuka from Texas. He was available, but makes over the minimum so no dice. You have to be kidding me. Kenny Williams has ALWAYS gone cheap with his bullpen. The main six guys in the 2005 bullpen -- Hermanson, Politte, Cotts, Jenks, Marte and Vizcaino -- averaged just a hair over $1 million dollars. Hermanson, Politte -- these guys weren't considered big relievers. Hell, IIRC, people b****ed that Kenny went cheap even when he DID go into the free agent market for relievers like those two. Oh, and BTW, Speier got a four year, $16 million dollar deal from Anahiem. I'm sorry, but it would have been dumb as hell to outbid Anahiem for a very-good-but-not-elite, 33 year old reliever.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jun 19, 2007 -> 06:03 AM) With Buehrle, however, three starts leading up to the All-Star break may have a transverse effect if he struggles. Receiving draft picks for Mark doesn't quite seem like an attractive option considering his current value. I feel the opposite way. I'd be trying to deal Dye ASAP while holding out hope that you can resign Buehrle (unless someone puts a ridiculously good offer on the table) and eventually trade Contreras. Maybe part of that is a bit selfish -- Buehrle is really the first player who I've watched for a good portion of his seven years in a Sox uniform so it would/will be sad to see him in another uni -- but that's JMO.

f***, I missed Gallardo's debut for the Brewers. Anybody see it? Final line looks very impressive. Good that they finally brought him up -- now Gio can take over as the minor league strikeout king.

For anybody that cares... TSN's Top 60 Draft Prospects Apparently Tallon was on a radio station in Canada saying the Hawks already know who they're going to take first overall on Friday. I'm hoping it's Kane, but I'll only be slightly dissappointed if it's JVR or Turris. If it isn't Kane I'd guess it's Turris as the Hawks seem pretty confident in the UofW Badger hockey program (Skille, Burish, Dowell, Ford). Either way I'm very excited, more excited about them than any other team I follow closely. The years of futility are finally paying off. All I really want is for the Hawks to land one top six forward this summer -- hopefully Handzus. Trading Aucoin or Vrbata would be an added bonus. In Dale I trust!

Are they even going to get this game in? Isn't it supposed to pour tonight?

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 19, 2007 -> 12:13 AM) At least we can say that this season sucked from the very first batter. That quote is so f***ing stupid. BTW -- why is Konerko sitting in on these meetings? What do you expect the player to say -- "Yeah, Kenny, it's probably your best bet to just pack in the season and trade everybody." I know Konerko has a NTC, but there are some contending teams out there who could really use a first baseman. I'm not necessarily advocating a Konerko trade, but if Detroit, the Yankees or the Angels (with Kotchman's concussion) came calling, Kenny should be fielding answers offers. It's wierd -- sad, even? -- to think that Konerko still has three years left on his deal after this year.