SoxAce

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 29, 2010 -> 11:56 AM) Drafted by Minnesota in 39th round, 2006. Has come out of nowhere to post incredible numbers over first 2 1-2 seasons of pro ball and serve notice that he's a viable closer candidate for the future. In first 59 games in minor-league career across rookie league and Class A, the right-hander went 4-1 with 31 saves and a 1.15 ERA. He also allowed only 44 hits and 24 walks in 78 innings with 125 strikeouts. His fastball hovers around 90-92, he's got a decent slider and excellent changeup. Theres your next Joe Nathan.

That 0/12 BB:SO ratio should fit in perfectly for the Cubs not to mention lack of playing time on the bench.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 29, 2010 -> 12:18 AM) I actually thought PK was fairly solid defensively? Maybe he is dependable, but just can't get to much... He had his best defensive year of his entire career last season (hell I saw that even with out looking at statistic, just by eyes), so you are correct.

Bobby Seay has a Grade 2 rotator cuff tear (a near Grade 3, which is the worst) He's gonna rehab and strengthen the arm to try and avoid surgery, potentially costing him his career.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Mar 28, 2010 -> 11:30 PM) 'Taker over HBK Cena over Batista Orton over Rhodes & DiBiase Show & Miz over Morrison & Truth Swagger wins MITB Hart over McMahon HHH over Sheamus Rey over Punk Thanks Marcus. I wonder who here won their prediction picks.

Meet this guy..

Pat Boyle is probably creaming his pants his Spartans are in the final four.

So what was the full results on who won guys besides Y2J?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2010 -> 07:44 PM) Gardenhire plans to try the infamous "Closer by committee" to start the year. Predicted headline in 2011: "After closer-by-committee proved wildly successful in Minnesota, 3 other AL teams are adopting it this year..." I wonder which will hold up longer. Their closer by committee or our rotating DH.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 28, 2010 -> 09:14 PM) Of those, Nix, but only because I don't trust Aquino and I want Hudson to pitch every 5 days. Agreed. Nix isn't the ideal utility man with his shaky (though I think he can improve) defense at 3B/SS (stellar at 2B) but the only reason I would take him is we would be relying on a 42 year old to backup alot, not to mention would be getting a ton of at-bats. The power wouldn't hurt either. I still think we will see Hudson alot more this year than people think. (Freddy either getting injured or just not getting the job done but that's just my personal opinion and I hope he proves me wrong) Barring deadline trade for a bat of course.

First Jason, now you. Seems my advice for interracial dating was the death for the both of you. Congrats man.

Bulls win today. Toronto lost, so the Bulls are half a game back.

Teahen's average is up to .277 now (2-4 night so far) for the panic posters.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 28, 2010 -> 04:15 PM) Bring up Retherford as backup catcher/MI instead of Lucy. He'll at least connect with the ball on occasion. Lucy is the much superior defensive catcher though, probably the best not just in our minors, but probably on our team if he was brought up. I don't think he could do any worse than Castro with the bat last season. I'll save Retherford for next season though if he improves his defensive (not to mention hits AAA pitching, showing the winter league was a fluke) game at catcher, were looking at a super utility guy down the line with excellent flexibility. Now saying all of this I'm sure Castro is fine. Probably more or less just precautionary. And to the other poster, no Flowers wouldn't be brought up if Castro went down especially seeing the sox brass wants him to work on his new tweaked swing in AAA (I would think if AJ got injured, it would be a different scenario.)

Good lookin out on the updates/highlights Slav. Keep it up.

Oh, and just to add insult to injury.. (no pun intended) James Johnson has a plantar fascia tear in his right foot. Though I'm sure Vinny would use Pargo, Flip, etc.. as a SF long before Alexander.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Mar 27, 2010 -> 09:50 PM) Jimmy Howard and Pecca Rinne were HUGE tonight in Nashville. Scoreless tie through regulation and OT, and 11 rounds of shootout lead to a 1-0 Detroit win. Crazy to think you guys are now the 6th seed and only I think a point away from the 5th seed. Amazing to see with all the injuries Detroit had to put up with and they probably will still be a top 5 team come playoff time. OT: But this just happened a few hours ago and I find it very hilarious. Minor league coach goes Lou Piniella/Hulk ape s***. I don't watch hockey as much as some here over the years, but I don't think I've ever seen this before. Skip all the way to 3:25 (love the 2 players to his left laughing at it.. )

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 27, 2010 -> 09:59 PM) That Astros team finished with the highest runs/game and OPS+ in the NL in '98 and the only baserunners were a guy who was hit 285 times in his career doing what he does best and a pretty weak grounder to third. Only 8 times did the Astros put the ball in play that day, that's f***ing dominance. And the Rays had the #5 ranked offense in the AL (7th overall in the majors) not to mention their worst lineup they averaged 5.22 runs per game (guys like Bartlett, etc.. had career years too) TB team had seven 0 run games all season (Astros six) TB had 37 games which they scored less than 3 runs (Astros 30) so we are not talking about a huge difference here. As far as pitcher dominance, no doubt it was Wood's game. But as far as the more impressive feat, that has to be Buehrle.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 27, 2010 -> 09:19 PM) CDR have a problem with Joe Alexander? They've been going at it every since Alexander got in the game. Did West Virginia take out Memphis early on or something? Or maybe he's mad WV is in the final four. Good win for the Bulls. Nets are probably the only team that if you told me Rose would have 7 points and the Bulls would still win, I would believe it. BTW I love the distributing Rose tonight, not to mention guys making shots for him. (5 rebounds 9 assist guy)

QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ Mar 27, 2010 -> 08:30 PM) I really don't care one way or another, but why is it a strikeout is better than a groundout? As impressive as Wood was that day, he did allow 2 baserunners, one of which he hit. I have also heard from a Cub fan friend that was there that day that Orie's non-play was definitely a hit. I'm not saying that makes it less impressive than the perfecto, but I think we sometimes miss the bigger picture when it comes to smart soft tossing pitchers. If a pitcher is fearless enough to throw it in a spot just attractive enough to swing at it, but off just enough that the hitter fails to square it up, is it any less impressive than a guy who can't be touched. Wood's outing may be more of a physical feat, but Buehrle's intelligence as a pitcher is what made him equally as unhittable (if not untouchable) that day and has him consistently throwing 200 innings every year. It's just unbelievable and I agree with this 100%. Buehrle does not have no hit stuff at all like Wood did at that time or a Verlander, Clemens, Johnson, etc.. etc.. and the man has pitched 2 of them. (1 perfect game) I believe it was Olney or Meyer who wrote an article on Buehrle's perfect game/no hitter compared to the others and he said that was the most impressive no-hitter in recent memory cause Buehrle is the guy you would least expect to do it not to mention TB had one of the best offenses that year.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 27, 2010 -> 07:10 PM) Actually, there have been 5 20+ K games, 4 of them in 9 innings (the other was 16 IP), 2 by Clemens, 1 by Wood and 1 by Johnson. Wood's outing was exponentially more impressive than Buehrle's. Not only did Wood K 20 in that game but the only baserunner came off a fairly routine groundball to third that Kevin Orie couldn't corral, it really should have been an error. Not only that but he had to go through Craig Biggio, Derek Bell, Moises Alou and Jeff Bagwell to get it done. It's arguably the most dominant performance in baseball history. Yea Wood easily should have had a no-hitter. I was stunned that wasn't an error. I would still say Buehrle's perfect game was much more impressive though. It's a freaking perfect game for christ sake. If it wasn't for the catch, Buehrle actually had every other hitter not hit (or no ball was really hit hard at all) him well that whole game. TB's offense was one of the best as well. Someone mentioned Buehrle's no-hitter against Texas. That was impressive too with Texas' offense. (they had Tex at that time too) But Mark needed alot of help defensively that game.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 27, 2010 -> 05:54 PM) Sean Marshall must have slept with Hendry's wife or something. He has one of the best curves in the league, and he keeps getting dicked around by the organization. It just boggles my mind that they were so in love with Mr. 12-6 Rich Hill, and yet the guy who resembles his pitching style (and arsenal) alot, they bury. When given chances over the last couple of years, Marshall is actually pretty solid not to mention is still young. I guess it gets to me more as I was a fan of his when the Cubs drafted him not to mention as a prospect (very rarely from that org.)

What a joke.

Which is why more knowledgeable fans look at the fielding bible more so now-a-days. I'll say this.. Buehrle finally won one, so there is hope for pitchers not to mention they do get at least one or two right (position wise) per year. (Longoria/Zimmerman)

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 27, 2010 -> 03:34 PM) Teahen with a single and run. Glad he figured it out this week. Oh great, now he's going to rake before the season starts and people will complain why can't he save these hits when it counts.