hogan873

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 02:15 PM) I just laugh at the way some Sox fans on here want the Sox to have a payroll of about 10 million bucks total and the way they are so inconsistent. There's outrage on here over Danks, but so little over Dunn's deal. People say, "the deal made sense at the time." Sometimes I think people hated Ozzie so much now that he's gone they are so happy they give Hahn, Kenny, everybody a free pass. I laugh at baseball for giving a guy like Danks what he makes but when the Sox payroll is so low, I could give a s***. I don't want to dump him just because of what he makes. The Dunn and Rios contracts are so laughable. The Fielder contract. On and on. I'm talking about baseball as an industry. You can't deny football is awesome the way they can dump players at any time and not pay them any more. Ignoring the requisite Ozzie love and Kenny/Hahn bashing, there's not a lot of outrage over Danks' deal. Before he got hurt, it looked like a decent deal. Even now with him returning to form, it still doesn't look too bad, especially when you consider some of the other deals out there. There's much more outrage over Dunn's deal, and you know it.

Is Howard one of those guys who a "change of scenery" will help, or is he just really bad?

Napoli shotgunning a canned ham was pretty funny.

Sox finish 77-85 Abreu .295 48 HRs 114 RBIs Sale 15-7 2.10 ERA Beckham, Viciedo, and Dunn are traded A couple decent prospects are brought in, but overall Soxtalk is unimpressed Oddball prediction: Konerko hits a walk-off grand slam in his last home game

My son and I met Axelrod during a tour of US Cellular (part of a perk from a BullsSox Academy camp). We then went to a game a few days later, and Axelrod was the starter. He actually pitched well, and the Sox won on a walk-off single by Youkilis.

That's awesome. I'm not sure Gillaspie likes anyone. Always looks like he's plotting to murder someone.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 17, 2014 -> 05:56 AM) MLB doesn't allow 2 Hectors on one pitching staff so no. And according to rule 162.51B, if there "were at any time two Hectors on one team, the aforementioned team must keep the Hector whose last name comes first alphabetically." So there you go. Noesi > Santiago.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 16, 2014 -> 02:25 PM) Where are people coming up with 3B as a position that needs upgrading? After 1B (Abreu), it's probably the position that least needs upgrading. Yeah, Gillaspie is doing fine there, plus there's Davidson when (if) he's ready. Pitching and catching would be where I think we need the help.

Great article. I've taken an increased interest in the catcher position lately. My son catches (he's only 11), and has been getting pretty good. He studies catchers on TV, and I'll see him trying things he sees. After watching a Sox game, I saw him placing his right hand along his right calf vs. behind his back...much like Flowers does. I think the catcher position, even though thought of as important, is not as valued as it should be. Take a look at the catcher corp in the majors right now. There are not many elite catchers and only slightly more very good ones. I know Flowers sucks as a hitter, but it's pretty obvious he's good behind the plate. That sort of guy is valued by a team, and I suppose that's one of the things the Sox like about Flowers. I've been telling my son that if he wants to have a good chance to play high school and college baseball (he wants to play in the majors, of course) that he should stick to catching and keep perfecting his game. Aside from a left-handed pitcher, I think catcher is a position that is sought after by schools.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 16, 2014 -> 07:37 AM) Exactly. I still don't get why it was a big deal that the game in Miller Park tied, anyway. I miss when they used to "goof around" and have fun during the All-Star Game. The NHL and NBA do All-Star festivities right. Also, MLB needs to find something other than this conventional HR derby. Did anyone sit through that 4 hours? I watched the first round (and luckily saw that 510' bomb by Stanton), but I was done after that. As far as the game, I agree it should not count for anything. It should just be a showcase of the (supposed) best players in the game. Even though no teams are mathematically eliminated yet, there are teams that have no chance to make the post season. What are the players of those teams playing for? I'm not saying the guys aren't going to try, but I would imagine there are all different mindsets in that game.

Okay...so does anyone else notice something different about the board? Everything is centered. No path of where you are at the top. Or is just me?

I would think that if Sale hadn't been the final vote he might have been added anyway due to Tanaka's injury.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 12:01 AM) I'm still trying to figure out how Sale didn't make it originally. He's one of the top 2-3 pitchers in all of baseball. Weird. Could have been the DL stint. Or just basic dumbassedness.

Watched the pilot of Tyrant last night. Pretty solid. I'll stick with it for now. Looking forward to The Strain starting next week.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 12:02 AM) Ugh. I didn't know Rodon was a lefty. I guess you folks are right. We need to dump one of the lefties. Don't act like it's a bad thing Rodon is a lefty. With him, Sale, and Quintana in the rotation, that's a very good thing. I hope Danks is traded, partly because of the number of lefties but also because that money can be spent elsewhere.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 12:21 PM) Moves that must be done: Hokey Pokey Right leg in Right leg out Right leg in, shaken all about Do the Hokey Pokey (turn yourself around) This is very accurate, because that IS what it's all about.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 11:30 AM) Guys we should move: Adam Dunn Gordon Beckham Tyler Flowers Guys we could move for right deal John Danks Dayan Viciedo Alexei Ramirez Hector Noesi I pretty much agree. I don't see them trading Flowers, though. DFA'd? Sure. But, they'll have to have someone else in place (AJ?) I think Dunn and Beckham will be moved, and Danks if the return package is decent enough. I'd be surprised to see Alexei traded, but if Hahn gets the right deal, it's possible.

QUOTE (chisoxfan310 @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 07:11 AM) Picking up AJ doesn't prevent you from finding a long term solution. Exactly. That's my argument for doing it. It won't do anything for the future, but having Flowers out there doesn't either. Nieto could be the catcher of the future. It's hard to tell. We won't know for a while. But, I think we can all agree that Flowers is not the catcher of the future. So why not bring AJ in, release Flowers, and go with AJ and Nieto for the rest of the year. Give Nieto a little more time than he has been getting, see what you've got.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 02:22 AM) Today's game killed the .500 talk again. If we had a closer .... Remember that we've talked about the whole closer situation in the past. There are more teams than we may think that go through similar situations. With a team that is not likely to contend, not having a true closer is not a huge problem. Last night's loss is one of the 80-90 losses this season. I wouldn't say it was because of the lack of a true closer, I would say it was because of a lack of a good bullpen.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 09:56 PM) There is it. Our solution. Bring back AJP. Tell him it's just for the rest of this season. Flowers is backup. Everybody's happy in Soxland. QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 09:58 PM) Except Adrian Nieto If the Sox brought AJ in (which I doubt), Flowers would be the odd man out. Nieto can't be sent to the minors unless the Sox complete a trade with Washington. I don't see the Sox bringing AJ in, and this could be one of the reasons. I think they like Flowers, even with his .210 BA and 100+ Ks already. Personally, I'd rather see AJ and Nieto sharing time, but I do see the point that it doesn't do anything for a team that is not going to contend. It would be a move for the fans and for a short term (minor) gain.

Last night was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations. When the 7th inning ended with Sale at exactly 100 pitches, I said to myself they should go to the bullpen because they had a 4 run lead. Sale comes out, throws 7 pitches and records two outs (and the runner on second should have been on first if not for Alexei's brain fart). I actually agreed with bringing in a reliever. But, it wasn't long before I was saying WTF. The bullpen recorded two outs and gave up five runs. Ridiculous, terrible, and I think we all saw it coming. I don't blame Ventura for the loss last night. I blame Petricka and Guerra. They're the ones who came in and couldn't get the job done.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:16 PM) We need a serviceable bridge until we find our next catcher. My guess is it is virtually impossible to trade for a guy that isn't a project right now. Catchers are incredibly scarce. Is AJ the long-term answer? No. Is Tyler? No. Is AJ a better player than Tyler? Yes. Will AJ cost you much? No. I fail to see the argument against. This is what makes me say, "why not?" AJ is better than Flowers. There are no other options right now. The Sox could stick with Flowers, but I think we're seeing the real Flowers now...not that guy who was hitting .350 awhile back.

I find it interesting that there's a thread asking how long it'll be before Flowers is DFA'd, and there are mentions in just about every thread about how much Flowers sucks, and then AJ gets DFA'd and there are folks saying they'd rather keep Flowers. I think we can all agree that there is not a great fix at catcher available right now. But, hell, AJ's a better option than Flowers right now.

Thoroughly impressed by The Last Ship. It's a well done action show that hasn't (so far) had any bad moments. I like to nitpik shows sometimes, and when it comes to military, shows can oftentimes be inaccurate. This show does a good job, all the way down to the ribbons the commander was wearing. Nice to see that sort of attention to detail. Watched the first episode of The Leftovers last night. I like it. Definitely a lot of mystery going on along with the overlapping storylines. I was going to cancel HBO to save some money, but I think I'll hold off until the show is over.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 8, 2014 -> 12:52 PM) Your last sentence is just crazy IMO. Beckham is average at best. How can you overvalue Beckham like that? Just cause he was a top draft pick doesn't mean anybody values him. I can't imagine him bring much more than a Chris Getz type player cause he is a Chris Getz type player. OK he's a little better than Getz. This trade deadline, the Sox should dump Beckham, Viciedo and that's it (I'm assuming nobody will trade for Dunn). Get what you can for them. Why? Cause there are replacements for both. We get it, you hate Dunn. But as has been discussed elsewhere, there will be teams looking for a guy like Dunn.. Otherwise, as of right now there really isn't a replacement for Viciedo unless they throw Sierra out there everyday. Then who do they bring up? Regardless, I wouldn't mind seeing Dunn, Beckham, and Viciedo all dealt provided they can get back something decent for the future.