fathom

I didn't think it was possible, but if Anderson doesn't make the big league team, the Vazquez trade gets even worse.

I'm really hoping this was meant as sarcasm.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Mar 11, 2007 -> 05:14 PM) Not really sure what the deal is with anyone having Stanford over Illinois. But we shall see. Stanford has been campaigning for a week about how a lot of their bad losses came when their best guy, B. Lopez, was out.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 11, 2007 -> 04:40 PM) And based on what(Not to you, but to those leaving them out)? They have a much better resume than all of these perceieved bubble teams. They are very stong in the 3 most important factors(RPI, SOS, L10). Many of their losses came with their best players out. Anyway, their going to be in. Their not going to leave out a top 30 RPI team from a major conference out. Based on what the most accurate bracketologist is stating. I have to ask you though.....which losses are you referring to with their best guys out? Pruitt and Carter have been their two healthiest players this year, and they're their best guys also. I really do wonder what type of connections Lunardi has to the committee, as his reversals of Illinois and Stanford seem suspicious.

Even though I think Illinois should be in, there seems to be a lot of momentum towards them being out right now.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 11:40 PM) They were impressed by his stuff. He's a lefty throwing in the low-90s (92-93) with an unorthodox throwing style. Also showed decent command of a breaking ball. There's no doubt in my mind that Boone has the stuff to be, at the very least, a great LOOGY. Hopefully he can be a little better in between the ears this year. I actually am excited about Logan becoming a lefty specialist over the next few years. I saw him face some of the big time Tampa prospects in AAA last year, and he looked great. He just needs to get some more confidence and experience. As that recent article stated, I don't think Logan fit in on the big league club on/off the field last year.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 11:30 PM) Floyd probably could use more time in the minors working on his control. I'd really like to see Cooper work with Floyd, and have him go down to the minors in order to work on the stuff and get confidence that he can get hitters out.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 11:25 PM) Boone last year was getting a lot of his action against the minor leaguers, and not a lot of apperances against the major leaguers in ST. He came late to the major league ST, because he was pitching in the minors camp and was discovered by pitching against Thome and a few others in some scrimages. My point is, that you need to get your guys innings, and the guys you think are ready to take a bigger jump, you pitch in away games in a starting position. This way you get to see them against major leaguers, and with away games you get a propensity of more of the regulars in the lineup for the opposition. They were impressed that Logan K'd Thome and Mackowiak during the scrimmage. Am I allowed to joke that 90 pct of the lefties in baseball can do that?

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 11:18 PM) bulls***. You don't think Ozzie is looking at Erstad's and Anderson's numbers and coming to a conclusion? It's pretty easy to see who's hitting better in Arizona when looking at the numbers. How about Boone last year? Does he make the team without the numbers he put up? Numbers matter, and don't try and color it any other way. They can be skewed, but that doesn't mean they don't matter. Ozzie came to the conclusion the day we signed Erstad that he would be an every day starter. Anyone who didn't see this obviously doesn't follow Ozzie's style. I just hope Erstad turns out to be good....I'm optimistic. QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 11:20 PM) Well if we are choosing the 5th starter by stats, Danks is your guy. I would be thrilled if Danks gets the 5th starter position.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 11:13 PM) He could be crap. Worst pitcher ever. Total bust. But no one here can use his spring training numbers to determine that, or to determine if he is major league ready. That goes for pretty much any player, with good or bad numbers. Spring Training numbers don't mean jack s*** I agree with this

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 11:07 PM) Considering they actually get to watch him pitch, I'll go with what the coaches say. How many times have you seen him pitch this spring to determine that he isn't ready for the majors? They are using what they see. If the guys throw strikes. I would imagine they know how to evaluate pitchers, especiallly in spring training. Masset seems like one of those guys who looks great when he's just throwing to the catcher on the side. However, as his numbers in the minors show, he struggles to actually get hitters out. I hope KW didn't make a mistake by putting so much stake into winter league numbers.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 10:58 PM) I really want to reserve judgment on Masset until I actually get a chance to see him pitch. But yeah, considering how he's pitched thus far this spring, I'm not all that ready to guarantee him a bullpen spot. I know no one thinks they know anything, but some writers at Baseball America told a friend that Masset was terrible, and the Rangers did a good job of finding a team that thinks he has value. QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 11:02 PM) Eduardo Perez hits his 2nd HR of the game. Best news of the week.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 09:54 PM) One area of his game that I may potentially miss is the innings he provides. But, yet again, if our bullpen in future seasons reaches their expectation we won't need every starter to throw 7 innings every night. Guillen (or whomever else) won't have to leave out a start one inning too long. One thing Guillen proved last year is that no matter who the pitcher is, they'll give you at least 6 or 7 innings. The problem with that last year was that the 6th and 7th innings were disasters, and too many times our starter went from 6 innings, 3 runs to 6 1/3 innings, 5 runs.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 09:50 PM) Yeah, why would we want to bring back our best pitcher over the past 6 seasons. Because there's no way I see Buehrle holding up over the next 5 years (which is the length the contract would have to be, because there's no way an agent would let a pitcher like Buehrle, at his age, sign a 3 year deal after the season he had last year).

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 09:48 PM) He's starting to look like Buerhle. I'm telling you, it's such a blessing for our organization that Buehrle isn't serious about signing a contract extension.

I guarantee that the Tribune will report how sharp Prior looked, as he added 3 mph to his fastball and will be in the 94 mph range by the time the season starts.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 09:38 PM) Yeah, because of the condition of his shoulder which cannot be fixed. hes done There was rampant speculation that Prior was a juicer a few years back (while still in college). His pitching mentor has had numerous guys that were later busted for steroids. It wouldn't shock me if this was somehow related to his issues the past few years. It couldn't happen to a bigger asshole.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 09:22 PM) Give it another week. Like RME JICO said, pitchers need to stretch out their arms. They aren't going to have pinpoint control and have their best stuff through just a couple innings pitched. Give them another week or so, and we will be able to evaluate the pitchers a lot better. I just hate hearing Garland compare it to how he felt last year at the beginning.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 09:28 PM) I would have been satisfied if Cotts were delt for Carlos Marmol alone. No chance they'd give us him for Cotts. Marmol has excellent stuff. I really hope Aardsma is better than I think he is.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 09:06 PM) Carlos Vasquez will likely pitch the top of the fourth. Oakland A's will likely score in the top of the fourth.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 09:01 PM) For a control pitcher, he certainly has terrible control. We should trade Broadway while he still has significant trade value.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 08:12 PM) Oh, so I guess his poor start wasn't the result of 'working on pitches' as many here assumed.... I know this is shocking coming from me, but I feel like our starting pitching could really be a disaster this season.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 07:16 PM) I agree. Danks may be good, and he could be ready, but we didn't get Floyd to send him to AAA. If Floyd ends up performing well then I wouldn't mind having the rotation full and still having guys knocking on the door for a spot. Considering Floyd did nothing to prove last year he's anywhere close to being ready to start in the American League, I hope KW/Ozzie aren't that stubborn.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 06:38 PM) As the article implies, Floyd will win the job because of intangibles you cannot see on a stat sheet like mechanics, coachability, etc. Too many people here are concerned with spring ERA. Yep, getting hitters out is overrated. My biggest fear is that we'll hand Floyd the 5th starter spot even if he doesn't earn it.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 04:47 PM) Kenny is starting to sound like he did about Jon Adkins. Adkins came over the same way as Floyd, thought to be pretty much a non-prospect at the point of acquisition amoung most scouts. Kenny didn't agree. The majority of scouts were right. I still like the Garcia trade though even if Floyd is, as I figure, not a very good pitcher. There just seems to be so many excuses when it comes to why Floyd struggles/struggled in the past. I saw some highlights of his game vs Colorado, and he didn't seem to have much on his pitches. His wind-up is real ugly.