fathom

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 10:50 PM) he'll be abot about 6 weeks. So he might miss a little spring training. Well, the Pods lovers have an excuse now if he sucks all season again. Forget about Pods or Erstad...Mackowiak's a much better option in LF.

Very predictable signing. The writing is on the wall that if Pods is healthy, Anderson's spot in CF is in jeopardy.

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Jan 19, 2007 -> 03:11 PM) His power is all but diminished due to injury, but the guy still knows how to get on base. Why on earth wouldn't the White Sox go after him at that price, for at the very least insurance for Podsednik? Hell, I'd rather have Nixon leading off with his .374 OBP in an off year where he was hurt than Podsednik. No? I like Trot, but he's definitely one of the guys I've heard rumors about being enhanced. I know he's had some injuries, but his homer numbers have fallen off of the table in the last 3 years. He'll be good for Cleveland...him and Delucci are much better than Pods.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 19, 2007 -> 12:56 AM) Plus my whole point was that even if both of them do go, they're not exactly devoid of talent. I completely agree with you. They're definitely the "IT" program right now. I'm just thankful my hated Illini didn't hire Thad.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 19, 2007 -> 12:35 AM) Also, I'm going to side with Rock, this isn't a one-year thing. Even if Oden and Cook go pro (doesn't look like a great chance of that so far), they'd still have Conley, Butler, Hunter, and Lighty, as well as a strong recruiting class led by 7-footer Kosta Koufuos (#12 on rivals), SF Evan Turner (#45), and SG Jon Deibler (#65). He has an even stronger class lined up for 2008, with B.J. Mullens (#3, another 7-footer), Anthony Crater (#24), William Buford (#49), and Walter Offutt (#92). They won't exactly be short on talent. Say what? Oden's not going to pass up going to the NBA. I don't care what he says....he's going pro. Also, it's widely known that Cook's family has a lot of financial trouble, and they even said on Saturday's telecast that it's a sure thing he's going pro. Cook has the type of game that NBA scouts love, and he's in the top 10 on some big boards.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 18, 2007 -> 12:26 AM) Look at Thome's career stats. 2005 is the abnormal year, not 2006. Dye may not reproduce last year's numbers, but that certainly doesn't mean he won't be productive or a great hitter. The Sox have had the fewest injuries (in terms of games on the DL) over the past 15 years. Think proper conditioning, good coaches and Hermie have a big factor in that? What is the Dye comment suppose to mean? we heard the same bunk with him before 2005 and 2006. Look at Thome's career. 2005 is the fluky year, he had surgery to repair it, and bounced back in 2006. Yes, proper conditioning plays a role...but wouldn't you agree that luck does also? There's always fluke injuries, like stepping on a base the wrong way, which can injure a player. Thome is never going to play 162 games, and he hustles so much that he's just asking to tweak his powerful body once in a while. I'm not expecting Dye and Thome to play less than 140 games, etc.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 17, 2007 -> 10:32 PM) Read the whole thread, and I think there are actually good points from both sides. Obviously every season can be a huge question mark, but this one just seems so wide open. IMHO, the Sox could be healthy all year and win 80 games. They could also win 95-100. It all goes on the pitching. Maybe I am overlooking Uribe-Anderson-Pods, but right now, its just not a concern for me(Pods leving is a priority however) The rotation and bullpen are just huge, huge questions. Can Mark bounce back? Can Count tap into the fountain of youth one more time. Can Garland ever put together a WHOLE season of good ball? Was the late stretch by Vaz just luck, or is he ready to be the 1-2 Kenny, and some of us(me included) thinks he can be. Who the hell is our 5th starter? Floyd?Haeger?Danks? Can any of these guys actually get outs in the majors? Then we have the bullpen. I am confident in Jenks, but his elbow is held together by pins, and the hip became an issue last season. We all know Mac is going to miss time this season, it's a given. Can Thornton even come close to what he did last season, or is he going to go back to his Seattle days? Then we have the mix of Aardsma-Haeger-Sisco-Masset-Logan-Floyd all mixed in basically fighting for two spots. Can we get anything consistant out of them? Now those are all basically negitive questions, and the for me alot of the answers can and hopefully will be positive, but I think they are realistic questions that we really wont know the answer to till probably May or June. Should be a fun ride. Great post.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 17, 2007 -> 08:17 PM) We lost the division by 6 when: Buerhle had his worst year as a pro Garcia was terrible until august (and even then he only had a couple good games) Garland and Contreras didn't get hot until the summer injuries plagued the team: Thome, Dye, Crede, contreras, etc etc missed key games in the late months of the season the front half of the bullpen stunk worse than horse**** our starting pitching was managed poorly. how many games would we have won if ozzie doesn't stick with vazquez through 6? 5 games at least? uribe had a terrible year, well below his averages detroit played over their heads last year (no way rogers is half of what he was last year) we lacked focus and made terrible errors throughout the season which was abnormal for this group and thats all i can think of right now. but i'm sure there are more. I hate the injury excuse with this team. We probably had the most luck in all of baseball in regards to injuries. I don't think we can expect guys like Dye and Thome to stay healthier than they did in 2006. If we can have the same type of health issues as we did in 2006 every season, we'll be in good shape. The only injury that I feel had any impact on the season was that to the back of Contreras. He was never the same after that.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 17, 2007 -> 08:00 PM) Explain how Cleveland is going to have a better starting 5. Their #1 is better than anyone on our staff, but thats is. Paul Byrd is a disgrace. A disgraceful Byrd is very likely going to be better than anything we can throw at the #5 spot. Like you said, C.C. is the best. Westbrook is prime for a huge year, as he's heading into his FA year. Not only that, but his sinker always kicks our ass. Sowers is the best young pitcher between the two teams, and I don't believe we've faced him yet. We've had success vs Cliff Lee in the past, but he keeps beating other teams in some way that I can't fathom. I know it's blasphemy on here to suggest that all of our starting pitchers won't be magically be improved this year, but I'm not ready to start saying how we're going to have the best rotation in the division, etc. I get a kick out of how many people dislike Garland on this board, as he's the only pitcher we have who I am confident will have an ERA below 5 next year. QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Jan 17, 2007 -> 08:11 PM) so what???? because he's young guarantees him a good year????? if that were the case, everyone would have those 18 year old phenoms pitching. Granted, the trend is that he's heading into the prime years but it's still not a guarantee. How about because he has electric stuff in a pitcher's park? There's a reason why the Tigers are turning down talent like Mark Teixeira for Bonderman, and we're getting Rangers minor leaguers for McCarthy. Bonderman and Verlander are two of the best young pitchers in all of baseball.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Jan 17, 2007 -> 06:35 PM) Name a better AL staff, 1 thru 5. You can find much better #1's, but all 5? Not sure. Detroit easily, and Cleveland is likely to have a more consistent starting 5. It's shocking how much confidence some people have in either Floyd or Haeger. I'll be shocked if Floyd could have less than a 6 ERA in the AL in 2007.

Durant's the best player in college basketball, and it's not even close.

Not drafting Barry Bonds.

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 04:59 PM) I'm so torn on her, but I think most of that is due to the gap between her front teeth. I guess that must be, like, her 'thing', but she'd be a lot hotter without it. She's got a great voice. I would totally hit that voice. Don't worry, from everything I hear, you're not her type.

I had a class with numerous Illini players, and the only one who ever showed up was Brian Cook. He's a GREAT guy...which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about a certain trio that was popular at U of I. My brother had class with Dee, Deron, Luther, Augustine, etc., and let's just say he only had good things to say about two of them, and the rest were tools.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 10:50 PM) I can agree with that. He is going to be something though, and if Oden stays (which I think he will) they are going to keep making the two man game beneficial for OSU. They showed one flash of that last night, and Conley has shown that even as a frosh he can run the team. I have this analysis on Ohio St.: they need to run and gun, and not set up plays for Oden. He's nowhere close to being polished with his back to the basket. He's much more effective on the offensive boards and receiving lobs. I watched Ohio St. earlier this year, and all of their guys seemed more effective when they were spreading out the court and dishing to the perimeter. Also, by getting in an up-tempo game, it might make it harder for teams to make an effort to go at Oden and get him in foul trouble.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 09:51 PM) And if you take Tucker off of Wisconsin, where are they? They probably don't beat Marquette or Pittsburg, among other games... It would be one thing if Tucker was a ball-hog with typical AI type numbers, ie 20 PPG but shooting 8-for-25 from the field. But he's not. He has an awesome mid-range game and is extremely tough to guard, especially when Bo Ryan posts him up. Calling him overrated is quite silly, IMO. At no time when I'm watching him do I feel "wow, this is the best player in college basketball". I know he's a virtual lock to be a first-team All-American, but he needs more games like he did vs Pitt and Marquette before I'll feel like he deserves it over Durant. His FT shooting is still poor, and you'd like to see him get more rebounds per game than he does. I would say that Durant and Big Baby should be the top two in the running for POY right now. It will be interesting to see if Durant keeps up his performance in Big 12 play. He's been amazingly consistent so far, and has actually impressed me more than Carmelo did at this stage of his freshman year.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 09:36 PM) No Michael Conley? The guy is top 5 in assists in the nation, with a god-like turnover to assist ratio. Him and Augustin have basically the same value in my opinion, but I was incredibly impressed by Augustin's performance vs LSU. As I said above, there are 3 great freshman point guards this year. Conley's in a great system to rack up the assists, as he has a ton of catch-and-shoot players on the perimeter. He's going to be a fantastic 4 year player. I always did love watching his dad in those celebrity dunk contests.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 08:34 PM) I like Davidson, but he's been awful offensively this year. 39% for a big man with his talents? That's just brutal, though I'm sure his head isn't really in the game. He's a great rebounder and defender though. I thought he was more of a shooting guard, but I guess he does qualify. He'd definitely be third on my list, not sure if I'd put him ahead of Collison or Shakur. My list of top point guards is as follows: Shakur, Collison, Singletary, Crittenton, Law, Conley, James, Augustin QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 08:40 PM) Give me Mike Conley Jr. or Ty Lawson over Crittenton anyday. Both Conley and Lawson take much better care of the basketball. Crittenton, 13.9 ppg 6 apg, 3.6 topg in 29.1 mpg Lawson, 8.7 ppg, 5.3 apg, 1.7 topg in 23.1 mpg Conley, 9 ppg, 6.6 apg, 1.9 topg in 28.6 mpg Crittenton is asked to do so much more than Lawson is. If he had Lawson's supporting cast, he'd be even better. Lawson's the 4th best freshman pg in the country.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 08:34 PM) I would say Williams is the best defensive player on the list, but he lags behind the others offensively and as a rebounder. 7.1 boards for an athlete like him that plays 32 minutes a game isn't exactly elite. There was a great statistical analysis about how Williams' defense is overrated. He blocks a lot of shots, but BC gives up a ton of points every game. Williams reminds me of Tyrus Thomas from last year, as he's a great weak-side shot blocker, but his man-to-man defense is poor. Speaking of centers, Randolph Morris is actually having quite the quality season. He was such a bust his first two years, but he's very improved now and doesn't look like a robot on offense.

3 games lost due to an infielder playing in the outfield. I love Pablo's energy......but I'd rather see him on the infield instead of butchering fly balls.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 07:57 PM) I'll throw Acie Law's name into the mix. Yep, he's been playing much better recently. It's amazing how poor the point guard position is this season. T. Green has been playing better recently as well. Here's a question I've been pondering: In 5 years, who will be the better pro player: Tyrus Thomas or Josh McRoberts? Personally, I think McRoberts brings more intangibles to the game than Thomas. QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 08:01 PM) McRoberts has been ok. He's a good player at this point but he certainly isn't special and he doesn't belong on an all american team. His scoring and rebounding numbers are similar to Noah's and Horford's and then when you realize they're both shooting nearly 20 percent better than him from the field, it's not much of an argument there. McRoberts also doesn't get single coverage every time down the court like Noah and Horford do, and teams don't have to worry about Duke lighting it up from the perimeter like they do with Humphrey, Green, etc. It was amazing last night to see how many short shots Horford and Noah get. I never thought I'd say this, but Donovan actually was designing magnificient plays to get those guys layups. Might I also add that I hate Duke, so please don't think I'm a Duke/Coach K/McRoberts homer. I hope they lose by 30 tonight.

BTW, my freshman All-American team so far is: PG- Crittenton/Augustin SG- Budinger/Beverly C- Hawes/Oden SF- Durant/Thad Young PF- B. Wright/Taj Gibson

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 07:52 PM) Hold on, I missed this before. McRoberts as the 2nd team center? Talk about overrated, he has been disappointing. He's very inconsistent, if he were playing to his potential Duke would be a lot better. I'd much rather have either Florida post player, or the one-handed Greg Oden, or Aaron Gray just off the top of my head. McRoberts has been fantastic in every aspect besides scoring this year. Anyone that was expecting him to replace Redick's scoring is going to be disappointing, but he's far and away the best player on Duke. Noah and Horford offset each other, and neither has been as good as they were last year. No one is a bigger fan of Aaron Gray than I am, but he's struggled recently. He'll be better when he gets more consistent playing time, even though teams are taking away his touches and making Pitt burn them from the perimeter. Sean Williams of BC had a great stretch of games, but he's fallen off the table now. Davidson is a solid center, even though he's trying way too hard to impress scouts with his outside game. He's gone through so much though, and I only wish he can be a first round pick. Ronald Steele has been bad this year, but that's due to injury. If Drew Neitzel qualifies as a point guard, he belongs in the top 3. He's really impressed me this season, and Mich St. would have been so much better the past few years if he played with this much assertiveness.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 07:23 PM) Alando had 17 points last night and missed 10 shots. Alando is having a great year and before this game he's shined even brighter in Wiscy's biggest games(Pitt and Marquette). He's averaging close to 20 and 5 and shooting close to 50 percent, like I said, he's having a great year and he will definitely be in the player of the year talk at the end of the year. As far as Rush, he had a lot of preseason hype but that has cooled down big time. He is not having that good of a year at all but I certainly don't think he's severely overrated at this point either. Dominic James on the other hand is completely overrated right now. First, I explained the missed shot totals above, with the 5 FT added in. As for Rush, it's still crazy to see how some people list him as their best SF in the country. So far this year, he's not even one of the top 5 SF. I don't understand the way Self is using him. Rush just stands on the side out on the perimeter, and never moves. All the team has to do is face guard him, and he's taken out of the game. Other underrated players in the country include the Providence duo of McDermott/Hill, Levance Fields (stats aren't great, but he's a hell of a leader), D.J. Strawberry, and Rich McBride (I joke!).

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 07:17 PM) That really only leaves Hansbrough, Davis, and Boggan IMO (feel free to speak up if I'm missing somebody), and since LSU has already lost several games he could drop. Since Hansbrough plays on the #1 team and is an ACC guy I would expect him to get it. If you take Hansbrough off of UNC, they're still a top 10 team. However, if you take Davis and Boggan off of their team, those teams don't even make the tournament. My All-American team (not including Fazekas) at this point of the season is: PG- Shakur/Collison SG- Dudley/Lofton C- Boggan/McRoberts SF- Durant/Tucker PF- Big Baby/Hansbrough