Jordan4life_2007

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:27 PM) I really disagree with this. Why do the Red Sox have one of the best farm systems? It's because they have no problem drafting tough to sign guys, guys who have the potential to be stars. They arent afraid to spend on the draft, and it pays off. They may draft at #25 or later in the draft, but they sign top 15 talent guys. International Scouting is a different animal, but it follows the same basic principles. You scout well, you putout the money, and you will have talent coming out of it. Depending on how much effort and money you put into it will determine your success rate. Even if KW does make a move to keep this team in first place, what will our farm system look like? Say we do trade for Fielder, we give up Hudson, Viciedo, Flowers, and maybe one or two more players (and not saying that this would get it done for either side). Next year, what do you do? You bring Fielder back at 16 mil, but then Paulie is a FA and prob demands 7-10 mill a year, AJ is a FA so how much will he make? You have raises to players such as Danks, and the payroll will most likely be around 95-105 mill depending on attendance figures. You dont have a lot of flexibility after the raises and having Fielder at that price tag, and now you have no one to replace your pending FAs, and you probably don have the payroll to resign them. Talk to the Rangers and Rockies about how tough international scouting is.

QUOTE (CWSOX45 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:16 PM) I don't post often, but when after reading this thread I thought I'd say a few things: 1. This team is in first place, the goal each and every year is to put ourselves in position to win in October, at this point you can't say that we are not in that position. There is still a week left until the trade deadline. Kenny Williams will do everything in his power to plug the holes for the stretch run. Yes, we are in that position. Thanks to a ridiculous 31-game stretch. Whatever KW does, will be lacking in either the pitching or hitting department. My beef is why wait until the deadline to upgrade the offense when it was crystal clear it needed upgrading in March and there were legitimate, realistic options out there? Now you can't foresee injuries. And like I said, I don't blame KW or Ozzie at all for what happened with Peavy. But look at our dilemma now. Just like I have no say so in whether Ozzie or KW get canned, I have no say so in who their replacements would be. Honestly? I have no idea off the top of my head. I know I'd like a manager that realized it's 2010 and managed like it. I'd like a GM that realizes unless you're the Yankees, the farm does matter. Specific names? Not my job. Total copout there. The talent has been there, we've been horrible at identifying it (and being cheap as f*** hasn't helped). No excuse. When you have to go back to the late 90's to find a legitimate player we signed from Latin America there is something wrong. See above.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 07:52 PM) $41 million in 3 years for a dominant starter is far from overpaying. No kidding. In Haren/Weaver/Santana, the Angels now have a trio that rivals any in the AL at least through 2012 under control at more than a reasonable cost.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 07:32 PM) The sad thing is that if Gordo gets down on that ball in the second inning, this thread never happens. Whatever. If you think I created this thread because of today's loss then you're delusional. I didn't create a thread when we were 10 games under back in early June.

QUOTE (T R U @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 07:25 PM) Since Ozzie took over as manager in 04 we have 2 division titles, a World Series Championship, and are currently leading the division as we speak.. 2004: 83-79 - 2nd 2005: 99-63 - Division Champs, World Series Champs 2006: 90-72 - 3rd 2007: 72-90 - 4th 2008: 89-74 - Division Champs 2009: 79-83 - 3rd 2010: 53-44 - Leading Division No one likes Kotsay being a major contributor to this team, but lets just say we win the division this season.. that's 3 division titles and a world series title in 7 seasons.. That also puts Ozzie at 565-505 career record with the Sox.. 12-4 in the postseason.. They don't need to be fired, but a collective agreement between them of the RIGHT moves to make would prolly help out a lot.. KW needs to just man up and do what he thinks is best for the club instead of submitting to Ozzie.. GMAB with the postseason record. Like I said, other than 2005, there's nothing to get loud about here. I've mentioned a few times that both Ozzie and KW would get majorly exposed if we didn't have the luxury of playing in what mostly has been a weak division since they've been together. We go into EVERY season with holes and the common consensus is "Wait until the deadline and will upgrade." We wouldn't be able to do that in the AL east. It'd be nice to go INTO a season without holes. Yes, I know this isn't fantasy baseball and you're not going to be loaded at every position. But there were options out there. We dropped the ball just because.

The 2005 honeymoon is officially over (or should be over). Let's face it, take 2005 away (and I know you can't realistically do this), they've both been average at their jobs at best. In Ozzie, you've got a manager who doesn't realize it's 2010 and not 1910. He's got a King-Kong sized ego despite the fact that he's not even a top 10 manager in the game. He's stubborn as f*** and I think gets a personal pleasure of managing against the norm, whether it benefits the team or not. Ozzie is simply not the kinda manager you're going to win consistently with. KW? I was willing to, not that my opinion means a thing, ignore the fact that he's blatantly neglected the farm and has consistently traded away young talent for mediocre vets. But this past offseason was inexcusable. Jim Thome? Vladimir Guerrero? Hideki Matsui? No! Let's roll with Mark f***ing Kotsay because that's what my dumbass manager truly wanted. We're up s***s creek now because not only do we have an offense that doesn't come close to matching up with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox and Rangers, we now have an unfixable pitching hole (and I'm not blaming either for Peavy getting hurt) that must be addressed if we have any realistic hope of competing for the AL pennant. Yes, the AL pennant. I'm not salivating over winning a below average division only to get waxed in the playoffs (2008). It makes me sick to look at what the Angels gave up to get Haren when we easily could've topped it. BUT NO!!! We have to save the few bullets in a pathetic system (ever since KW took over) to upgrade an offense that could've been taken care of back in March. Again, I know my rant doesn't mean a thing. Ozzie and KW would have to quit before either is held accountable. I just had to vent. This organization is going nowhere fast with these two as manager and GM.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 05:17 PM) It amazes me how much of a free pass he gets. I think it has just been the fact that the offense has sucked so bad as a whole, Pierre doesn't really stick out like he would if this was a different year. I agree with you. But Juan's defense has been spectacular this year. That's obviously given him more of a pass. But I hated the trade from the start. Only Kalapse hated it more than I did.

Lexi! Right back in this thing.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 05:13 PM) BTW, Scotty Pods just hit his 2nd homer of the day. His season is putting Pierre's to shreds. I gotta give Podesdnik credit. He's had a solid season. And I hate JP so much (and just as I say that he actually knocks in a run).

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 05:07 PM) This is such a great post...and it's the reason that I was so frustrated when people before the season were saying how easy it would be to upgrade the offense during the season if the DH-by-committee failed. To be fair, you can't foresee the Peavy injury. That's screwed everything up.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 05:03 PM) Did we win that? Previous last games of the series I remember there are Koch blowing a game, the 2005 Dye at SS game, and then last year's Ellis walkoff. NM. I'm thinking the Angels. Another team that's owned us in their park. We actually got swept in our only visit to Oakland (Frank killed us).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 05:02 PM) He'll be fine, it may just take a few months or even a year or two. Like most starting pitchers. And it's fun and easy to pretend that isn't the norm...gives you a chance to say how we should dump him immediately. Nobody would be saying a thing if not for Peavy being out. There's more pressure on him because of that. I really don't know how the hell KW is going to be able to fix the offense and even somewhat cover up the massive hole that losing Peavy has created.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 05:00 PM) Jeez, the two worst games we've had in 2 months. I can't remember the last time we won the last game of a series at Oakland. '06?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 02:51 PM) Pierre should never get a GG because part of OF defense is throwing, and teams take extra bases on him at will. I agree. Crawford >> Pierre.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 02:43 PM) I have a feeling Paul is going nowhere. Bulls now clear favorites to sign McGrady according to Marc Stein. So as long as he a) agrees to a bench role and B) is healthy, Stein says he will be a Bull. Pretty happy about this signing, but makes even a more ridiculous numbers crunch. Granted he wont be healthy the entire year, but still is Watson going to be happy with 5 minutes a game? Kover with 10? McGrady with 10? Brewer with 20? We sign him, we are probably the deepest team in the NBA, but that means nothing when the NBA is about five on five. I can't believe so many people are salivating at the potential "depth" of this team. Depth in the NBA doesn't mean jack unless you have multiple injuries. If Rose and Noah don't continue their natural evolution, depth won't mean a thing.

This is off-topic, but has anybody watched or caught any highlights of Tony Gwynn? That dude is a beast in CF. He's been the NL's answer to Franklin Gutierrez, who I feel is the best defensive player in baseball, this year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 02:10 PM) It just goes to show the gigantic role pitchers play with CS percentages. This. His arm didn't all of a sudden get better at age 33. There's still a plethora of catchers I'd rank over A.J. in terms of defense. That said, he's been good this year. And the numbers back it up.

All I want to say is that greg SHOULD NOT be banned. Banning is for people like Brando who drop the N-bomb. Greg is annoying as f***. But he's at least consistent and I've NEVER seen him personally attack anyone. J4L has spoken.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 01:02 PM) Dawson wasn't a great offensive player. His career wOBA is .352. If .352 gets you into the hall of fame, then there should be a lot of people in the Hall. The thing with him is that he was a great fielder. He has a career total zone of +69. That makes his career WAR at 62, which is almost hall worthy if you ask me. To me, the hall of fame cut-off is 75 WAR. Because if you put up an average of 5 WAR for 15 seasons, you are one of the best the game has seen and you deserve to be in the hall. Not that I disagree with anything you said, but do you think the voters even know what WAR and wOBA is, let alone use that as a basis, for whether they vote somebody in or not? Sabermetrics have come a LONG way in the last 10 years, but they're not quite yet that mainstream.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jul 24, 2010 -> 06:40 AM) don't get me wrong, I'm as big of an Alvarez fan as there is (as witnessed by my avatar)....but right not i'd have to take buster posey from that draft ... that draft is looking to be a good one though...alvaraez, posey, beckham, jason castro, brian matusz already having lots of big league success plus guys like hosmer who has broken out in a ridiculous way this year I've got no problem with that. Like I said, a lot will depend on if Alvarez can stick at third. The power potential is real.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 12:26 AM) My question is, is it finally time to move Beckham back to the 2nd hole in the lineup. Now that he appears be hitting, back to his usual self, should someone who can hit for average, handle the bat well, hit for some power, and has a unique ability to hit the ball to RF be wasting away in the 9 spot? His production the last 3 weeks or so has been relatively wasted with Pierre and Vizquel hitting behind him. Both of those guys have proven they have trouble hitting the ball to the outfield let alone driving in runs or spraying the gaps. Now Beckham in the 9 hole does provide some ability to drive in runs at the bottom of the order since he hits behind AJ and Alexi, but Beckham in the 2 hole would theoretically create more RBI opportunities for the meat: Rios, PK, and CQ. Plus moving Vizquel (or Pierre) to the 9 hole isnt really that big of a change because they both follow each other in the lineup now, you would just be giving Beckham, a hitter with more power an extra at bat that would be take away from one of those guys. So is it time? greg will admit Bobby Jenks has been below average before Ozzie moves Pierre to the 9-hole. Personally, I'd like to wait until the end of the month and see where Gordon is before any lineup shuffling is done.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 24, 2010 -> 05:48 PM) He hasn't played the OF for more than 20 games, and his numbers last year were significantly worse than Quentin's this year. NM then.

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 07:40 PM) It's mid-season, tho. Josh Johnson is now the clear favorite. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 24, 2010 -> 05:23 PM) Major control problems vs. the Phillies today: 2 IP, 3 H, 6 BB, 6 ER ERA is up to 2.75. Since this thread was started his ERA is 7.36 in his last 6 starts Yeah, he's been pretty bad.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 24, 2010 -> 05:44 PM) The lineup should be very interesting considering the consensus is the Sox look "tired" today. I still don't understand why Pierre and Omar have to play every single day. Would you guys want Jose Guillen for a rental the rest of the year? I'm sure the Royals, however, would try to rob us for said rental. I don't want him, but he's another bat the Royals are dying to get rid of since he's a headcase. Jose Guillen? For the right price. Hell yeah. He's having a pretty good year. Can he play a competent RF?

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jul 24, 2010 -> 05:43 PM) I am glad the kid is still on this team. I couldn't believe some of the rumors coming out that had him being traded We should just shutdown the FutureSox part of the board if he's traded.