Jordan4life_2007

QUOTE (GO CHI SOX! @ Oct 6, 2009 -> 01:07 AM) His struggles this season have all but guaranteed him no future with the Rockies, but at least Garrett Atkins had the present Thursday afternoon. "All happy," said Atkins, when asked if he had mixed emotions. "Obviously, I don't think I've got too many more games in a Rockies uniform. I'm just trying to enjoy it with these guys. I'm glad to be a part of it today and help the team clinch. Hopefully we'll have a long stretch in October." Beer and champagne weren't all that cut through the air in the Rockies' clubhouse after their National League playoff-clinching victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. There was no small amount of irony, too. In their final home game of the season, it was Atkins, the run-producer-turned-spare-part, who stepped up and delivered three hits and three RBIs. This was the same Atkins whose season crashed and burned in May, when he hit .148, the first of three months in which he hit below .200. How long was his summer? Consider this: He averaged 105 RBIs over the previous three seasons, but the three runs he drove in Thursday gave him 48 in 2009. "It hasn't been fun," Atkins said. "It hasn't been the way you draw up the season coming out of spring training. But going into the playoffs right here makes it a little bit better. I know I wasn't playing well, but the team was, so it's hard to complain about taking a back seat to guys who are playing well. This is all that matters right now." That could change soon enough. Atkins could well find himself at the plate with a game, if not the Rockies' season, on the line. Particularly if the Rockies' opponent is Philadelphia, given the Phillies' glut of left-handers. "We need this guy," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "I tried to get that message out there: We've got to have you. So it wasn't a matter of completely unplugging him. I kept trying to find a place to plug him in and keep him involved. We don't know just yet, but if it's Philadelphia, there's a strong chance they'll throw three left-handed starters at us. "That's when the importance of Garrett Atkins starts to come into play. This guy could be huge for us." http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_13467129?source=rss Ian Stewart has emerged as a cheaper alternative at third base, and there's no room for Atkins at first because of Todd Helton. Atkins hit .226/.304/.341 this year with nine homers, while Stewart hit 25 homers and posted a .790 OPS. Atkins made $7.05MM this year and the Rockies couldn't offer him less than $5.6MM in arbitration, so they'll presumably non-tender or trade him. Just some news on Atkins. This article pretty much says all that needs to be said on this topic.

Not that there was ever any doubt. But the starting rotation is officially set. How many teams can say that at this point?

QUOTE (rockren @ Oct 6, 2009 -> 12:57 AM) Didn't take long for you guys to shoot this one down...but put me down for one who really likes Stewart at 3rd. He's a promising 24 year old left handed bat who can ball on the hot corner. I hope he makes some plays in this upcoming series. I just feel Colorado could make sense for KW as having two big league 3B on their MLB roster and having facilitated a recent trade with them. (Contreras) Exactly. So why do the Rockies want to trade a guy of this caliber? Especially one that's cheap and under team control for a while? They'd trade Atkins long before even considering trading Stewart. Your idea is not bad from our standpoint. It just makes no sense at all for the Rockies.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 6, 2009 -> 12:56 AM) And I want to hear your guys' opinion of who will replace his production. Who are we gonna acquire to replace Dye? Remember Thome is gone as well. We need to score some runs and losing Thome and Dye doesn't actually help in that regard (assuming Dye returns to productivity). Who knows at this point. But rebound seasons from CQ/Rios alone will infinitely make the offense better in 2010.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 10:08 PM) I agree. Not because of favre, but because their Oline and Dline combo is the best in football. You here it all the time. And I think this is constantly forgotten in this era of fantasy football. But it ALWAYS starts up front. Look at the Packers. They've got an elite QB and playmakers all over the place. But they're handicapped by a really bad O-line. Oh, and you could make a good case for the Giants having the best O-line, D-line combo in football, too.

QUOTE (T R U @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 09:36 PM) The Giants and Colts can suck a cock, the Vikings are the best team in the league. Now that's some analyzation for that ass. QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 09:37 PM) Jared Allen is sodomizing the Packers' O-line. Barbre still sucks. Their O-line is terrible. But Jared Allen vs Daryn Colledge is beyond a mismatch.

QUOTE (T R U @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 09:30 PM) They are the best team in the NFL Giants and Colts might have something to say about that. But they're without question the best team in the division.

The Vikings have easily the most talented and complete team in the division. That left side of their O-line is as good as it gets.

QUOTE (1977 sox fan @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 07:07 PM) i believe rios will have a great year next year and we got a very good defensive cf in him to i for one like the rios pickup . i say he hits 285 25hr 105 rbis and 30sb I was referring to Dye. Rios' defense isn't, and never has been, in question. I love the pickup. He's already our best all-around player.

Two months ago this was Lincecum all the way. But the St. Louis combo has made this really interesting. I still have to go with Lincecum. I'm bummed the Giants couldn't get to the postseason. He alone would've given the Giants a chance in any series.

JD is one of the best players in franchise history. He doesn't have to apologize for a damn thing. I'm not just thankful for 2005. I'm thankful for all 5 years he's been here. There might not be some mysterious reason why he fell off so much in the second half. Dude is 36 years old. And the days of players finding the fountain of youth at age 35 (not that Dye would ever cheat) are over. It was just a matter of time before the decline faze started. If yesterday was his last in a Sox uni, it's been an incredible ride. J4L salutes JD!

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 05:13 PM) I think Porcello deserves it - the guy's a stud. Shudder to think of him and Verlander anchoring that crew for the next several years. That's nice. I like Peavy/Buehrle/Danks/Floyd a lot more.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 04:26 PM) I agree he's played himself out of a position in right. He's a DH now. Now you could ask, "Why not consider it an off second half defensively since you are saying he just had an off season offensively?" I don't know. I just have a feeling he can still hit, but those big long legs just can't get moving in right field as much any more. I disagree that he's always been awful in right. He's been OK in right his Sox career, but the second half did seem like he was worse than normal. If the Sox or somebody decides he can still roam the outfield, I'd be OK with that, but I'd tend to agree with you (just from my own eyes) that he's a risk out there in right at the age of 36 and up. Would interesting to hear what KW and the scouts really think. An off second half defensively? He's been a butcher in RF for years now. The older he gets the worse he gets.

Longoria was my early season favorite. But it's damn near impossible to argue against Mauer. And the fact that he missed the first month makes his season even more amazing. It's not as open an shut a case as the NL MVP. But it's close.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 03:42 PM) I'm impressed at some of the pushes Chris Williams is getting on the O-Line. He's been a bit inconsistent, but for a kid in his spot i can't help, but be impressed. And he's playing a brand new position. I think he's doing alright so far.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 02:00 PM) Illinois is a basketball school anyway. And I don't think that's a good thing. But the basketball team is obviously my saving grace right now. Can't wait.

I just don't want to see KW overpay for RP this offseason. Unless you're talking the elite, these guys are just too unpredictable.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 11:51 AM) I am taking Bailey, his numbers were sick. And I don't care that he played for the A's or was a reliever, he still was a rookie and the best damn numbers. Yeah, if they're going to give it to a pitcher it should be Bailey. Porcello, although I think he'll be good overall, wasn't that impressive to me. Even with the 14 wins. I like Romero a lot. But if it's not Andrus or GB, it should be Bailey.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 11:44 AM) It's funny this year because so many of the big question marks were answered positively...and yet still things didnt work out in the end Found a real leadoff hitter midseason Alexei took more walks We solved defensive CF Gavin/Danks held up Called up Gordon and he varied from great to good throughout Getz was alright Paulie had a bounceback year We turned some of our young arms into an ace (while still contending) AJP career year Had two passable RHP middle-relievers and our LHP guy kept being great Just goes to show how gigantic it is when your 3-4-5 falls apart and you wait too long to replace it. And of course closer issues. Lexi walking 49 times is nothing to get loud about. Yeah, it's a lot more than 18. Still, nothing to get real excited about. Now if 49 turns into, I don't know, 75 next year? Then we're talking. Defensive CF didn't get solved until August. And he didn't hit. The ace we added made 3 starts. And this was hardly a career year for AJ.

One thing we seem to have an abundance of is intriguing RP prospects. For our minor league gurus, who's the closest to the show at this point?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 10:56 AM) I wonder what the Sox would look like today if Detroit had not have stepped in and one upped our offer to the Marlins for Miguel? There was no way we could've topped Maybin/Miller at that time. We easily could now. But certainly not then.

This is kinda outta the blue. But Patrick Willis is from another f***ing planet. Damn this dude is good.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 06:52 PM) With the exception of the cases of a blind squirrel finding a nut that were the 2001 Sugar Bowl and 2007 Rose Bowl teams, the football program has been a joke under the watch of Ron Guenther (only team in the Big 10 that has a worse overall record, as well as the only one with fewer bowl games, since he was hired is Indiana). So it's no surprise he'd want to do an idiotic thing like give Zook an extension. I will never understand why Guenther is so beloved in Champaign by the big wigs at the school. I understand there is a lot more to a school's athletic department than the football program, but that's the one that makes the big money. Bingo. Sorry, nobody gives a s*** about tennis and golf and whatever. lol. If that's all you have to hang your hat on you seriously need to find another line of work. I didn't expect a whole lot this year. But what we've seen so far is pathetic beyond words.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 09:39 AM) CSN sportsrise just showed a replay of the Knox TD kickoff return, it turns out the dumbass threw the ball away to celebrate about a yard before he got into the end zone. Lucky for him no one noticed during the game. I saw that too. I'm sure he was pretty damn excited and just made a dumb mistake. Anyway, what a find this guy has been so far? If only JA had even 75% of the success with first round picks as he has with second round and later picks we'd probably be a dynasty (not really, but you get the point).

I was neutral for a while. But I'm actually pulling for the Tigers. The Twins are just too f***ing annoying. And I want to see the end of the portal potty that is the dome ASAP.