joeynach

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 30, 2008 -> 01:41 AM) With the improvements to the ballpark, increase in the payroll, and the World Championship, I can't imagine ANYBODY still b****es about the name change. I haven't heard a peep about it since probably March or April of 2005 to be honest, if not longer ago than that. Me too I could give two flying fu*** what they call the ballpark. If its a nice park, a good place to see the game, has a good atmosphere (fans), good food, and has the sox they could call it Maxi Tampon stadium for all I care. If its a winner its winner regardless of its name.

I have advocated in the past the white sox add some concessions to the outside of the park. Since there is so much tailgating and lingering in lots, gathering by the 35th St ramps Entrance and by the World Series statue it seemed only natural that there be some food vendors. I advocated that the sox set up some mobile stands with their popular items outside the park before and after the games; hot dogs, polishs, brats, Italian beefs, maybe even ice cream for the kids on those hot summer nights. Or if they didn't want to do that they could contract out some pre/post game food stands to someone like Maxwell St, Pops, Portillos, Al's, etc....with the Sox getting a portion of the proceeds of course. But with this new bar/restaurant area that might take the cake, its nice to see the Sox realize that the more pre/post options they can supply in food, alcohol, shops, attractions, gathering areas, the more they money per game their fans are likely to spend.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 29, 2008 -> 10:52 PM) Type B you get a sandwich pick Type A, you get a sandwich pick and a draft pick from the Signing team. If that draft pick is in the 2nd half of the first round (Picks 16-30) then you get their first round, pre-sandwich pick. If that draft pick is in the top 15, then you get the team's second round pick instead. Cool, so losing Cabrera should get us two players. If the Twins do wind up signing Cabrera then we would get the Twins 1st round pick (assuming their 88 win record nets a 16-30 pick). Thats like a double whamy b/c not only do we get an extra 1st rounder but we stop the twins from drafting in the first round, which is one of their strengths.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Oct 29, 2008 -> 10:07 PM) If we offer them (Uribe, Griffey) Arbitration but they decline and then sign with another team then we get a 2009 sandwich pick (between the 1st and 2nd rounds). Ok so thats Type B. So for Type A how does it work. I thought type A means that the team that signs our Type A players must give us their 1st round draft pick, am I correct?

According to http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ Orlando Cabrera is going to be listed as a type A free agent and Jon Garland as a type B. This makes the Cabrera/Garland swap immediately tilt in our favor, as we are entitled to a compensatory draft pick from whichever team signs Cabrera. Not only did KW fill the leadoff and SS hole for the season, which also allowed Gavin Floyd to get his shot, but he traded a 1 and done Type B for a 1 and done Type A. Its the little things like this that can really add up and make a difference. Well done Kenny Kudos

This is the new bar/restaurant area that has been rumored for awhile now. It actually dates back to when the new stadium was being built and they knocked out that old bar (i forget the name), and JR & Company promised to rebuild the bar(s) after the new stadium was completed. I remember talking to my friend who is a sox ticket rep and his brother about this at a game this year. He said they were defiantly planning on developing some sort of row of bars/restaurants underneath the ramps on 35th st. Obviously its more of a reconstruction/elimination of one of those ramps but you get the jist of it. I think this is really cool, its close to the Red Line stop and that 35th St ramp entrance area is has been so so widely under used and developed. Its nice to see the change. I cant wait to hear what announcement the sox make on what exactly is going in there. I would assume some sort of sports bars with both indoor and outdoor seating as well as some shops and vendors. Should be cool.

QUOTE (chisoxt @ Oct 28, 2008 -> 07:29 PM) You are correct in that if you can offset the production form other positions ie, shortstop centerfield, where you play in the field doesn't matter. Good catch. Production aside, Figgins is getting older, is slowing down and frankly seems to the type of older verteran guy who is on the right side of the 'bell curve' that Kenny seems to fall in love with. Per Jim Margulus' Sox Machine Blog from yesterday..."He (Figgins) saw a sizable increase in walks (62 from 51, plus three HBPs), but managed a Jerry Owens-like 16 extra-base hits over 520 plate appearances. Add those with a third straight year of decline with regards to his stolen base total (34-for-47), and there's one very obvious conclusion: Figgins is getting old. There are two general trends about ballplayers as they age: The legs are the first to go. They become more selective because they can't cover the plate like they used to. He'll be 31 next season. He was hampered by a bad right hamstring for about a month, so there's a chance he could rebound, but these are warning signs worth paying attention to. On the other hand, this makes him an excellent candidate to acquire for only a year. His contract expires at the end of the '09 season"...... Figgins is getting old, and Paulie is already old. What is wrong with trading aging player for aging player. No one is essentially getting robbed.

How is this guy a FA, he doesn't have enough service time to be eligibile, he only has like 23 games played.

QUOTE (CryptviLL @ Oct 28, 2008 -> 03:06 PM) good. stupid trade from the beginging Not exactly, yeah griffey was a waster but It got rid of Massett and the subsequent use of Massett. This is a pure case of addition by subtraction. He belongs in either AAA or some weak division in the NL.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Oct 27, 2008 -> 11:47 PM) Thanks Yoda. Greg, are you seriously making the argument that these "wacky" stats are a bad thing? Shame on people stepping outside the box(BABIP is hardly stepping outside the box) to form an opinion on a certain player. If the statistics are available, why would you not use them? The writer isn't saying Swisher had a good season. Far from it. What he is asking is for people to look a little deeper at the situation, and you might see a case for Nick being a little snake bitten this season, and a rebound in 2009 isn't out of the question. Very well summarized.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 27, 2008 -> 11:18 PM) --My gosh, how stats have changed. Can you imagine when Bill Melton played having all these wacky stats and some guy proclaiming much of your problems due to "bad luck?" My god. Swisher's batting average was horrific. It was a bad trade. Can he rebound? I guess he can. At least this writer was fair. He pointed out Swisher's taking those pitches right down the middle which was baffling to say the least. The guy had a s***ty year. Can he have a monster year next year? I wouldn't think so. But I would think he'll be motivated right from the get-go if Ozzie doesn't beat the s*** out of him first. It was pretty apparent Oz thought the guy couldn't play down the stretch. I don't buy the fact he had to play Wise cause Griffey was so bad in CF he needed some more speed. Until proven otherwise I think he sat Swish late cause Swish stunk. I think another way to look at this whole Swisher was soo unlucky with his line drives thing is the notion that you create your own luck. Its the same concept in poker. For example when lets say u make a strait and you try and get coy and check hopeing to check raise. Meanwhile a guy with a flush draw is allowed to see another card and hits a flush on you and now has you beat. Some people would say he look how unlucky I am that his flush card came out. The real statement is hey bet the crap out of your strait, to make him fold, and eliminate the draws that can result in you losing the hand..no lucky cards can come. Same with Swish in the sense that maybe his line drives were right at someone becuase of his approach. Maybe he was constantly lining out to 1B or RF and trying to pull everything. So the defense would just hug the 1B line and get ready for the eventual At him ball. Not that know this to be 100% certain, but just a thought.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Oct 27, 2008 -> 11:10 PM) I agree. I thought Swisher was severely over-rated 2 years ago. His holes in his swing are many and the As correctly dealt him before diminishing returns set in. Even though Gio, Sweeney and DLS may never pan out in any big way, I still believe we could have gotten a far better bounty for our top 3 spects than a career sub .250 hitter who does little well other than walk and hit a homer now and then. The trade was a crap trade, but Kenny did make several other really good deals to make up for it (CQ, Floyd, Thornton, etc...plus the pickup of Alexei, which may have been Kenny getting lucky when Fukodome went with the Cubs, which directed his attention to Alexei, thank goodness) And fukudome looks like the worst acquisition of the off season.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 27, 2008 -> 06:19 PM) Whether or not trading him would be a mistake would have to be determined by what would be coming back. Look at Brad Wilkerson. Very similar players. Hit for a mediocre at best average, nice power, a lot of walks and a lot of strikeouts, and then Wilkerson went from a pitcher's park in Washington to a hitter's haven in Texas and he sucked even more. Sounds familar. Its possible, despite his age, we have seen the best of Nick Swisher. That $20+ million still owed to him just may make KW wince a little bit. He's not a CF. LF and RF and 1B and DH are taken. He's a 10th or 11th man right now. Sure...its possible that what you say is true, that the best of Swish is in the rear view mirror. Most likely though for a guy who is 27 years old, logic says that Swish still has some quality years ahead of him before an age related decline. Brad Wilkerson is currently 31 and not as good athletically than Swisher is. What if Swisher returns to 07 form, .262/.381/.455 with 22 hrs and 78 RBI, what if returns to 06 form .254/.372/.493 with 34 hrs and 95 RBI? The problem is that in those years Swisher was a 3/4/5 hitter, thus he was the benefactor of drawing more walks (OBP) and presumably getting better pitches (fastballs) with runners on base. The thing about being on the White Sox is that he is not better at hitting 3/4/5 than anything we have. In fact I see him basically taking Crede's spot in the lineup as long as the new 3B is brought in for Speed, OBP, AVG. The point is we had like 6 lumberjacks already in this lineup before Swish came in, now Crede and Griffey are gone with the possibilty that one of Dye/Thome/konerko could be gone as well. This could really open up more middle of the lineup opportunities for Swish to get back to his .255/.380/.475 line with his 25 HR pop...for only $5 mil.

This article examines a few sabremetric stats from Swisher's 2008 campaign. We all know the low batting average (almost Uribe esq) bothered us most of the year. Still, Swishers repuation as an on base guy was supposed to be his crowing attribute. With an OBP of around .350 in mid Aug it looked like a manageable year from Swish, but his Sept slump really killed his numbers, ending with an obp of .332. A lot of people soured on Swisher as a result calling for Kenny to unload him this offseason. Anyway, here is the gist of the articles explanation for Swisher's career worst year. There is an explanation for Swisher's poor performance this year, however, and it's as simple as Swisher being incredibly unlucky. Swisher's 2008 line drive rate of .204 was the highest of his career, but his BABIP—which, if a player is neither lucky nor unlucky, should be .120 higher than his LD rate—was .251, just 0.47 points higher than his LD rate. That's not just unlucky—that's ridiculously unlucky. The article then goes on to summarize their opinion of Swisher. Swisher's sweet swing wasn't around much in 2008, but his extraordinarily low BABIP and the fact that he did have that swing for at least short periods give reason to believe that Swisher will return to around his career norms in 2009. It's far too early to give up on Swisher, who will be 28 on Opening Day next year. Just another way to look at the whole Swisher situation.

I hope the surprise is that Thome/Konerko will be traded for figgins. Or that Vazquez will waive his no trade and get out of here.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 18, 2008 -> 10:13 PM) I think the Sox will use Richard in the pen, with the plan of stretching him out and using him as the 5th if anyone struggles or gets injured. Contreras will not be counted upon for anything and the club will likely look to trade for another young arm (potentially in a Javy deal). However, Kenny can't panic and move Javy just for the sake of moving him. He still has value and if you dont' get a pretty good offer, you don't trade him. 100 % Correct

I think your kidding yourself if you think Lowe or Sheets will be affordable. Both are likely to command 13-15 mil per year over 4-5 years. Remember Vazquez and his 4.5ish era gets 11.5M, Lily and his 4.2 era gets $12M, etc.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 17, 2008 -> 01:20 AM) Remarkable comeback win tonight by the Beantowners. I picked them to win the series initially in five. But Hard to imagine the Rays dropping the next 2 at home, but I guess anything's possible. Beckett was awful last time out. Hes still not 100%

The Rays pitching staff this year is defiantly lightening in a bottle, just like the 05 sox. The couple exceptions being Buerhrle for the Sox and Kazmir for the Rays, who I believe is a bonafied ace (less his recent struggles in Sept). Other than that I think James Shields is overrated, hes a twins like pitcher, good in his dome where other hitters and teams struggle. Sonnastine is def having a career year considering he had a 5 ERA last year. Garza isn't bad but hes still a #3 at best. I do like the Rays lineup much more than their pitching. Their bullpen is also career year USA, percival has miraculously "found it" again, who is JP Howell, same for Grant Balfour, etc. That being said they are still winning the world series, its just their year. The white sox got the Angels with no Bartolo, the Red Sox with Matt freaking Clement starting game 1, and the astros with a banged up Clemens, it was just their year. The Rays have a pitching staff of career years, got to face a white sox team deprived of their best player, their everyday 3B, and one of their starters, and a Red Sox team without Lowell, Lugo, Manny, and a banged up Beckett. I would be 1000000 bucks that next year the rays come no where close to 97 wins again, we saw this happen to the 06 Sox, and 07 Tigers. Point of my post, u want to make $, bet the Rays from here on out.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 12:40 PM) yep ozzie played his best lineup every night. after the last few years, i think this was a good year of managing by Ozzie. he played to win every game, he finally stopped worrying about his players feelings. I disagree I think there were certain times where he made it a "B" squad night in terms of bullpen. Thus, we all know when the "B' squad came in the game was soon to get way out of hand cuz of how poor they really are. There were many times, especially in Sept after the rosters expanded, he used only the likes of Macdougal/Logan/Wasserman/Broadway/Ramirez. Im not saying he wasn't completely justified, it was obvious he was rolling out the "B" squad and saying if we slug to victory and out due the poor performance of the "B" squad then great, if not I just dont want to burn up the "A" squad. But that being said that is more of a conceding the game, saving arms for the next game (or series) type approach.

I could actually see the sox acquiring Figgins from the Angels, they have what we need and we have what they need. They have no 1B, Kotchman traded and Texeria is a free agent. The angels are always a team that looks for veratile guys with value contracts, Swish provides all that. Plus that team has an old core that's beginning to show its age; Vlad and Anderson are in the last years of their deals (Team options) and are starting to look a little sluggish and injury prone. Someone like Swisher, late 20s, could be just what they need. Perhaps the sox could work a package of Swish/Fields (or Wise) for Figgins/Prospects or something of the sorts could work. Id say if that doesn't work out take a shot at Furcal at 3/33 or Hudson at 3/27.

There is no way Getz, Fields, Owens are all starting next year. Maybe 1 of the three if KW cant find the upgrades he wants. Im pretty sure Fields will never start on this team due to his defense, Ozzie couldn't stand it for 10 games how its he gonna put up with 162. Fields should be traded due to poor defense, high strikeouts, and low avg. Getz and Owens have some promise, but Owens is going to have to play past Swish, BA, and Wise now, I wouldn't mind trading one of them while their value is high. Getz seems like he would be useful, especially if we sign Furcal or Hudson with Lexi at the other position. Those two are a little injury prone so it would be nice to have Getz around as their backup. Other than that it seems like everyone wants Casey Blake as the starting 3B. I think thats a decent move as long hes not signed for more than 2 years for around 14-16 mil.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 03:40 AM) Also, comparing Vazquez to Suppan, who was the NLCS MVP in 2006, isn't quite valid. Suppan is a pretty gutty pitcher who got rocked because he just doesn't have good stuff anymore. I meant hes like suppan in that hes a #4 pitcher who is good at eating innings but shouldnt be counted on to shut anyone down at big moments or in big games.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 06:24 AM) Because Ozzie loves his veteran players...like Erstad and Mackowiak and Griffey and Thome. He likes young players with lots of ability, but not Anderson/Tracey/Rauch/Fields/Owens/Andy Gonzalez, lol. I think your missing the point Ozzie isn't dumb. If ozzie though his young players were loaded with talent and great instincts he would play them, ala Lexi, CQ, Wise, etc. You saw what happened with our young players last year, those were bad players (terrero/gonzalez/etc) going no where, and it was dismal. I would play Thome and Griffey over those bums too. Dont even think for a second that if Ozzie had Andre Either or Matt Kemp he would play Griffey or Swish over them in CF most of the time, there is no way. Ozzie knows who the performers, stop gaps, and clown car players are, hes not dumb.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 01:49 AM) The problem with trading Swish is you're trading him at his lowest value. Bring him back next year when he should be able to at least hit .240. I think he fits if you look down the road 1 more year. In 2010 Thome is gone and Konerko in the last year of his deal. You have Paulie Dh and Swish is your 1B from 2010 and on. In terms of 2009 you might start with Thome DH and Konerko playing 1B, but most likely Thome breaks down or becomes a DH platoon with Swish or Konerko. Keeping him isn't all the bad, especially since trading him at low value really brings you nothing. The most important thing is finding a new 2B and 3B (assuming alexi to ss) that have speed, hit in the gaps, and are high avg and obp hitters. That should help balance the lineup a bit. If we could land 2 of casey blake, nick punto, rafael furcal, orlando hudson would be great. Furcal/Hudson Alexi CQ Dye Thome Konerko/Swisher AJ Blake Anderson/Wise/FA