GreatScott82

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Feb 22, 2007 -> 03:39 PM) Pods is not a no-tool player. He was injured last year. Ever try to run with a pulled muscle or a sports hernia? Ya ain't gonna be good. He gutted it out and should be commended for it. He also should have been benched, if there was a good replacement, which there wasn't. So, let him heal and let's see what kind of ballplayer he is this year. I dig your positivness CanOCorn i'm not going to lie!! GO SOX!!!! Lets get the season going.

I understand why Ozzie wants Iguchi to bat 7th. He wants a more balanced lineup. The top and bottom of the order last year just wasn't too good. However, Pods, Anderson and Erstad are ALL big question marks this year. And to have Pods-Erstad be the 1-2 punch for 2007 can be bad. However, it can also be good. What is to say Pods doesn't rebound strong and has another 2005 type season. Whats to say Erstad wont have a solid bounce back season? Nobody knows anything at this point. My only concern with this is having Anderson's development stunted. But as i mentioned before, time and time again Rowand was replaced and sent back to the minors, sent back to the majors as a back up to guys like Everett and Lofton time and time again. He turned out okay and found his own.

this team has a ton of new arms! i just hope at least 2-3 of them can make an impact in 2007.

I remember that Tiger- White Sox brawl in 2000. Foulke was in the middle of it and recieved a black eye. He had his case of struggles in 2002, but in 2000 and in 2001 he had some pretty damn good performances. Just to think, we got him in the white flag deal. Then we traded him for Billy Koch who was horrible and because of that was replaced by Shingo Takatsu who road a nice wave into 2005, but became horrible and was replaced by Big Bad Bobby Jenks!!

QUOTE(retro1983hat @ Feb 15, 2007 -> 02:41 PM) Yes but AJ has to answer his own questions about trailer trash Springer appearance. anyone find that springer appearence online yet?

This just made my morning... I really hope Danks has an excellent ST. Anyways Danks attitude is awesome... He is demonstrating responsibility to his high prospect rating and wants to make Kenny look good for giving up an aweful lot to be aqcuired. Javy is also showing responsibilty from his actions last year going into this year. He knows it is extremely important for him this year to be successful (and not only in the first 5 innings). I say the X-factor in our rotation going into 2007 will be Javy.. I said the same about Contreras going int 2005.. go back and look at the Soxtalk Vault. I said if Contreras can put it together we can be damn good! Well same for Javy this year... if Javy can find it.. look out Detroit!

QUOTE(Y2HH @ Feb 15, 2007 -> 05:27 PM) If the boys are gonna make fun of big Jim for appearing on Oprah...do we get to make fun of Al Lopez's Ghost for watching it? lol good point!!! maybe he just has a solid femine side?!?

I had the show 'Millionare' on on my lunch break and the question was: In 2005 which team swept the Houston Astros in the World Series to capture its first World Series title since 1917. A) Chicago White Sox B. Detroit Tigers C) Pittsburgh Pirates D) Philladelphia Phillies The guy was like "Im not a big sports fan, but it was hard to ignore what the white sox did" the host chick was like "Yes sir, i was happy and proud for what they did". I was like Wooohoooo! Okay im ready for baseball to start now! lol

Jim Thome is awesome!! I can't wait to see AJ and Crede make fun of him in the dugout.

How sweet would it be if the White Sox re-signed Buerhle right before the season started and then Zambrano left the Cubs for St. Louis next offseason... haha wow how Cub fans would be furious.. giving all that money to Lily and Marquis lol.

QUOTE(fathom @ Feb 13, 2007 -> 05:00 PM) I can't believe the Sox are counting on Floyd, someone who struggled to get minor league hitters out last season. I would like to see him post a sub 4 ERA in AAA before pitching in the AL. Can I make the prediction now that either KW or Ozzie won't be with the Sox in 2008? I can't see Ozzie managing during a rebuilding period. I agree. As much as i love Ozzie, i just don't think he has it in him to be patient with a younger team. We all saw how he ran out of patience with Brian Anderson, we all saw how him and KW had something strange against McCarthy. It should be interesting to see how he deals with this 5th starter situation...because something tells me there might be another 5th starter black hole come june. Now hopefully Haegar, Logan, or even a younger arm like Gio, Danks, or Broadway can step up if this Floyd character will be a complete bust.

Zambrano is just doing what Buerhle said to the White Sox but in a more demanding way. Sign me to a fair deal (according to the market) or just let me finish this contract in 2007 and walk. If Zambrano waits until free-agency he can strike BIG time next offseason. Knowing the Cubs though, they'll give in and fork up the money making their payroll even more ridiculous than it already is.

Minnesota Twins- (AL Central Champions) 1. Johan Santana (Cy Young Award winner) 2006: 19-6, 2.77 ERA 2. Boof Bonser. 7-6, 4.22 ERA 3. Carlos Silva. 11-15, 5.94 ERA 4. Matt Garza. 3-6, 5.76 ERA 5. Glen Perkins. 0-0 1.59 ERA They will always be tough with Johan Santana on their side. However, having Francisco Liriano out for the year hurts them badly. Brad Radke's retirement doesn't help them either. They are counting big time on the young arms of Garza and Perkins to step it up. Bonser is decent but nothing special and the White Sox have previously killed Silva over the last few years. There starting rotation will not be as solid in 2007 as it was in the past, but they can make up for it with their outstanding bullpen. Detroit Tigers (American League Champions) 1. Kenny Rogers. 17-8, 3.84 ERA 2. Jeremy Bonderman. 14-8, 4.08 ERA 3. Nate Robertson. 13-13, 3.84 ERA 4. Mike Maroth. 5-2. 4.19 ERA 5. Justin Verlander. 17-9. 3.63 ERA The 2006 Detroit Tigers's starting 5 did exactly what the 2005 Chicago White Sox' starting 5 did, and that was dominate and keep the team in every single game. They might be alittle tired from there extended season (See Chicago White Sox of 2006) which can increase their ERA's. However, they picked up more power with Shefield (like the White Sox did with Thome last year). They are hoping that can give their starter's some more breathing room. IMO the Tigers have the edge in the pitching department going into 2007. Chicago White Sox 1. Jose Contreras. 13-9. 4.27 ERA 2. Mark Buerhle. 12-13. 4.99 ERA 3. Jon Garland. 18-7. 4.51 ERA 4. Javier Vazquez. 11-12. 4.84 ERA 5. Gavin Floyd. 4-3. 7.29 ERA The White Sox starting rotation under-achieved in 2006, which was the main reason they missed out on returning to the postseason. They made some adjustments to their rotation this offseason by dealing veteran Freddy Garcia and Brandon McCarthy. From these deals they brought in many young arms who are all up and coming. There is a good chance that Gavin Floyd will win the 5th starting spot and they are hoping he has a decent year. They are relying on rebound seasons from Buerhle and Contreras. They are also hoping for Javy Vazquez to finally have that career year and let alone pitch out of that dreaded 6th inning. Jon Garland won back to back 18 game seasons and I only seeing him getting better. I can definitley see both Buerhle and Garland winning 20 games this season. I think the White Sox are a near 2nd to the Tigers going into 2007. And that is only because of that 5th starting spot. Who is to say that Gavin FLoyd doesn't have a Justin Verlander type year?!? Anything is possible at this point. Cleveland Indians 1. C.C. Sabathia. 12-11. 3.22 ERA 2. Jake Westbrook. 15-10 4.17 ERA 3. Cliff Lee. 14-11. 4.40 ERA 4. Paul Byrd. 10-9. 4.88 ERA 5. Jeremy Sowers. 7-4. 3.57 ERA The Indians have an excellent #1 in Sabathia and about 3 #4 starters in Westbrook, Lee, and Byrd. Like the Twins and White Sox, they are relying on a young inexperienced starter to cover the 5 hole. I think the Indians will be in the thick of things in the Central this year. I expect either Westbrook or Lee to have an outstanding season. I think like the White Sox case in 2006, they were just burnt out from that division collision in 2005 that they had with the White Sox. I expect them to be refreshed and ready to go. Kansas City Royals 1. Gil Meche. 11-8 4.48 ERA 2. Odalis Perez 6-8 6.20 ERA 3. Luke Hudson 7-6 5.12 ERA 4. Jorge De La Rosa 5-6 6.49 ERA 5. Brian Bannister 2-1 4.26 ERA Umm its the Royals. Can we say anymore? Gil Meche and Odalis Perez are very capable of having decent years, but the bottom 3 are HUGE question marks. Looks to be another looooooong season in KC. Good luck Ross Gload I expect them dead last. My Final Edge 1. Tigers- Yea, they have a damn good rotation. If they somehow can find a way to stay healthy and not get burned out via the White Sox of 2006, i see them winning a lot of games once again for Detroit. 2. White Sox- I expect big seasons from Buerhle and Garland. I also expect a solid 15 wins from both Javy and Contreras and anything from that 5th starter spot will be a bonus. Hell even 10 wins would help from that slot. THey are well rested, healthy and ready to go. 3. Indians- Sabathia will be his same ol dominate self, and if Westbrook and Lee can have career years, i expect Cleveland to make a solid run at the post season. We all know Byrd is capable, he is the only pitcher to beat the Sox in the '05 postseason 4. Twins- Johan will once again win the Cy Young... but he can't pitch EVERY game for them. You know it cant be good in Minny when Boof Bonser is your #2 guy. Yep, losing both Radke and Liriano will hurt them pretty badly. 5. Royals- Yeeeeek. Whats the point of even commenting about them.

QUOTE(Damen @ Feb 7, 2007 -> 07:49 PM) I agree with you, for the most part. I'm glad Williams stayed away from the free agent hysteria this offseason. Still, I'm still a little disappointed that we traded Garcia and McCarthy, and recieved very little in return that will help us in 2007. Gavin Floyd will not pitch better than Brandon McCarthy this season, if ever. I think he can definitley win 10-12 games this year. But if it is an issue.. and we are still in the hunt.. it is KW's responsibility to go out and find a pitcher by the trade deadline. I don't want him to force the issue and plug in guys like Broadway, Logan, Gio or Danks..let them mature in triple-a for a season. I would much rather have KW go out and get a serviceable guy to finish the season at that spot. Remember we don't need 5 starters in the postseason if we make it, we need 4.

.265, 12 HRs, 55 RBIs, 20 SBs He will also improve defensivley..we will all soon realize that the patience will pay off with this kid. All the trade talk will stop.

I'm usually not the 'Peter Possitive' type. But you have to look at the good things KW did this offseason. 1) A minor move in exchanging one time dominate set-up man Neal Cotts to the Cubs for David Aardsma, a right handed power reliever with some great movement on his pitches. Cotts was either tired from being over-used in 2005 or he just simply lost his magic. KW figured Thorton replaced Cotts as the lefty-setup man. 2) His 1st major move was trading Garcia for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzales. I was a big Freddy fan, however there were no chance in hell he was going to come back after 2007. So he went out and traded for a couple guys who can contribute for a long time on this organization. (Don't get me wrong at the time i thought we should have gotten a whole bunch more back). From what I hear from Floyd he can be a Jon Garland type experiment. It may take awhile to see the best from him. Hell i'll take a 12-10 record out of my 5th starter like Jon G often did for us until he found his way. Many many scouts across the league are in love with Gio Gonzales. In fact McCarthy compared him to a young Johan Santana and a future top of the rotation starter. 3) His next move was a no brainer and taking the club options on our 3 excellent players in Iguchi, Buerhle and Dye. 4) His next move was he signed MacDougal to a 3 year extension through 2009. Macdougal is an excellent reliever!! 5) His next move was kind of shocking, he re-signed Pods to a 1 year deal. It was shocking, but what he said was right..why would you spend 10 mill/ year on a guy like Juan Pierre who can do the same things Pods does?!? I know there are many Pods haters on here, but when he comes back in May finally HEALTHY! I expect him to ignite our offense. 6) This one was a bit shocking to us all. Trading away McCarthy, the guy who was suppose to replace Garcia in our rotation. I hated this move at first until i realized what we got in return was pretty damn good pitchers. We got back one of the best lefty-handed prospects and a future top of the line starter in Danks. We brought in a guy who will immediatley be plugged into our bullpen in Massett, a guy who can throw high 90's and can be a potential set-up man for Jenks. After this move i was thinking..wow is KW that serious about 'not being able to re-sign Buerhle this offseason due to the inflated market?' I hope not... I say after 2008 you let guys like Vazquez and Contreras walk but after this year you NEED to re-sign Buerhle and while your at it, give Garland another 3 year extension. I want Garland and Buerhle our 1 & 2 for many many years. Than you still have Floyd and you can plug in a Broadway, Danks, Gio etc..and the rest is gravy. 7) His next move was he signed backup catcher Toby Hall via free agency. This was a possitive move..i think we all didn't want to see Alomar's face behind the plate anymore. 8) Next, he traded fan favorite and clubhouse favorite Ross Gload for Andruw Sisco. Sisco is monster with a lazer-rocket arm and will bolster our already 'Power Armed' bullpen even more. It is now officially solidified with Massett, Sisco, Aardsma, Macdougal, Thorton and Jenks. 9) His final move of the offseason came right after we all found out about Pods groin surgery. He signed Erstad to a 1 year deal as a 4th OF and a defensive back up 1B. This was a good move because w/ Pods out we will need a LF and someone capable of leading off and Estad fits the bill. I give KW a solid B-. He didn't make the team worse, but he didn't drastically make the team better. There still are a lot of question marks. Like Brian Anderson out in CF for another full season. Will he improve or will he officially be a bust? Juan Uribe..will he play or will he be in jail half the season? Can Vazquez figure out his 6th inning chaos? Can Buerhle and Contreras rebound? Every team has question marks..i guess the beauty of baseball of is just going out there and playing... I think we will definitley compete with Minny and Detroit..but we are definitley not the favorites to win this thing this year. And that may just be a good thing.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 05:26 PM) Just stay healthy exactly. stay healthy, be scrappy and play aggressive like the Erstad of old. He will most likely get 3/4ths the starts out in LF when Pods is out. I'm guessing he'll be the leadoff hitter to start the year as well. So don't need to steal, but just get on base for our 3-4-5-6 sluggers. I predict .265 10 HR 50 RBI which is solid for a part time starter part time bench player.

1986 at Old Comiskey..my father took me to the game, i was 4 years old, i remember it because Harold Baines hit a game winning homerun and i remember the scoreboard exploding for the first time and thought it was the coolest thing! I remember my dad picking me up and down over those yellow railings they had down on the first level. What a memory! Happyness is being a Sox fan!

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 06:45 PM) Uh, does anybody read what I post here? That's what I'm SAYING: 2004 Sox offense. That's what it reminded me of. HELLO? I'm well aware of how in '06 the team fell apart because at any given time one of these things fell apart: -Offense -Pitching -Bullpen It seemed at no time were we ever firing on all three, hence the crappy season. In '05 you'd at least get two out of three most of the time. Yea and the 2 of the 3 were always bullpen and starting pitching! But they had just enough offense to win a ton of ballgames. Not to mention they had a variety of ways to manufacture runs. In 2006 they reverted back to the longball and because of that, they couldn't comeback in many games after trailing late because the offense was too 1 dimensional. Hopefully in 2007 they can find ways to manufacture runs again. Pods being out worries me a tad. We are going to begin the season w/o having a true leadoff hitter. I'm guessing we are going to be seeing a lot of Ozuna action the first month of the season.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 03:00 PM) I'd say there's about a 15% chance of either Buerhle or Garland being back after their contracts expire. The way this increases is if Kenny's 5th starter spot, with all the prospects, becomes a revolving door, and nobody steps up. If that happens, then we would enter next offseason with no #5, and one of our top pitchers leaving - and maybe some pressure on Williams to keep the top part of his rotation intact. I'd say if they can re-sign Mark I think they'll be able to re-sign Jon G also. And after 2008 just let Javy and Jose walk via free agency and let the kids have a crack at the other 3 spots (Danks, Gio, Broadway, Floyd, Haegar, Logan etc...) It would be something else to have 3 solid lefties in our rotation in 2009 (Buerhle, Danks and Gio) But from what Kenny and Rick Hahn has told us, they are the best 2 lefty pitching prospects in the game so they better be in our rotation in the near future!!

Chuck Garfind from CSN just interviewed Buerhle from Soxfest and they talked and Buerhle said right now he wants to come back to the Sox, and he thinks theres a 100% chance he'll be back. However he said a deal would have to be done before the season or after the season if a deal were to get done. Says his heart and soul is for the White Sox and doesn't want to go anywhere else. Buerhle pretty much is saying all the right things as usual... hopefully KW can get something done soon. Buerhle means a lot to this organization and fan base.

With all this contract negativity talk the last few days, I wouldn't be surprised if KW and Buerhle agree to a nice 4 year deal with a club option for a 5th year worth 12.5 mill/ year. This stuff happened last year with Garland, all the trade talks tuned into a 3 year extension. IMO Buerhle is just as important to this franchise as Pauly is and we all know KW rewarded Pauly. Attendance is always up when Buerhle pitches, he's fan friendly, he grew up with this organization, he helped lead the Sox to their first World Series in 88 years. Yeah he had a below average year last year... but i garuntee you all he win 16+ games this year with an ERA of around 3.5. Solid lefty starters are hard to come by, lets hope KW and JR realize just how important Buerhle is to this organization before the season starts. Because once the season starts it just may be too late to offer a deal. I just don't want to have that sick feeling of him going to another team and dominating for years just like Maddux did when he left the Cubs for Atlanta. That s*** still haunts sCrub fans to this very day. But if he does go, at least we can say we won a world championship with him.

Erstad won't be our every day CF. I don't care what any reporter says at this point... Erstad will start LF until Pods returns..which IMO will not be until early May. When Pods does return, look for Erstad to pinch hit for BA late in games the rest of the year for the old lefty-righty matchups. He will also be the new Ross Gload of the team..giving Pauly some rest every now and then. This was a great pick up and it will not 'stunt' BA's growing process at all. My only concern is who can leadoff? Do we really want a guy leading off who is coming off ankle issues? I guess Gooch would be my best bet..he can definitley get on base.

Some of the things i liked about that interview was he said "If someting was missing last year, Erstad definitley brings it" I agree with that. This team was missing that grinder mentality that we had with guys like Everett and Rowand. I think having a guy like Erstad on the bench can light a fire under Brian Anderson's ass as well as the rest of the team. I also liked the fact that he said it will not be a revolving door to that 5th starting spot like in 2004. Everyone has said that its Gavin Floyd's spot to lose, but i would LOVE it if Danks or Gio have a spectacular spring training and wins that 5th spot. Imagine having 2 solid lefties in Buerhle and Danks/Gio?!? That could give the AL central some headaches.

I think Bill Melton is wrong... or maybe he meant that Erstad will be Anderson's back up once Pods returns. There is no way KW and OG would invest 2006 to help develope BA for nothing. He will be our starting CF in 2007. Erstad will be our starting LF until May when Pods comes back. The big questions is... who will bat leadoff until Pods returns?