fathom

QUOTE(Soxpranos @ Apr 1, 2006 -> 05:32 PM) What makes you think that hes the total package? If they can trade Gio and Young.. McCarty can go as well. Kip Wells had betetr numbers in his firts 7 starts than McCarthy. The organization also hated Kip Wells.

jphat.....thanks for the info all spring training doing pbp, etc.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Mar 31, 2006 -> 09:51 PM) I wouldn't bet one Davis staying in the draft. Even if he does declare, he has virtually no draft buzz, so he's probably a second round pick, meaning he'd pull out. Even if they did both go, Tasmin Mitchell is solid, Minor and Mason are decent starters, Rolle is about as athletic as Thomas, and Lazare and Temple are pretty good role players. Big Baby wanted to go pro all season....and then he became one of the most prominent faces of this tournament. Him and Thomas are locks to go pro. If they lose those two guys, they're back to being about a .500 SEC team.

Just a couple of things: - I think we can all agree that Marte had to go. - If Jenks can't do a solid job as a closer, our bullpen is in a lot of trouble. - I hope it doesn't sound like some of us are doing too much b****ing. We'd much rather be in this position then worrying how Felix Diaz or Arnie Munoz will do as the 5th starter.

Balta....even though I'm not happy with our bullpen, that was an excellent post. Well done!

QUOTE(ptatc @ Mar 31, 2006 -> 04:44 PM) We traded the two pitchers in the bullpen who most people complained about last year (Marte and Viz) and people still complain. Not a soul would have complained if we would have just replaced them with legit major league pitchers. Also, I think that the crapiness that has been Bobby Jenks so far is showing how uncertain our bullpen is.

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Mar 31, 2006 -> 04:43 PM) Marte and Vizcaino pretty much sucked most of the year. If the sox are competitive, trades will be made. I for one am really excited for the progress of Thorton and Boone boy. Vizcaino didn't suck. He had about 4 or 5 bad games, but besides that, he was pretty reliable. So many of us were busy bashing him, that we overlooked how many big outs he actually got for us.

I still think that either Cotts or Politte is going to come crashing back to eart after their seasons last year. I'm pretty confident that Logan won't be too bad. Jenks, on the other hand, is a total unknown for a full season.

QUOTE(JimH @ Mar 31, 2006 -> 04:34 PM) Yes. And there are already loud whispers he's not healthy in Arizona. Jim...you know I hate Duque. I'm so happy he's gone because not only is his salary way too high for a long reliever, but I'm not sure Ozzie would know how to use him effectively (and yes, I know he was great in the postseason). I still think our team would have been stronger if we would have traded Contreras for a stud reliever (Lidge) and another pitching prospect. Then, McCarthy could have moved into the starting rotation (where I think his change-up is better suited).

QUOTE(JimH @ Mar 31, 2006 -> 04:30 PM) I agree it's a fair point(s) but the comment on El Duque is incorrect. The Sox asked him if he'd come out of the bullpen in '06, he reiterated he is a starter, and that's why his name came up in talks with the Dbacks. I didn't even look at that point. Basically, I just read the premise of his post, and then added my approval of the overall point. I'm thrilled that Duque is gone.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Mar 31, 2006 -> 04:29 PM) It ticks me off because we went from having one of the best bullpens in baseball to possibly one of the worse and it kills me that a team with a 90+ million payroll whose defending world series champs is going into the start of the season with this many question marks in the pen. It pisses me off because we have so much talent and money invested in our starting pitching, yet we have so much uncertainty with our bullpen. I admire what KW did to bolster our offense this season, but I think he really overlooked the one aspect of our team which really was underrated last season.

I'm usually one of the first people to rip on VAfan, but I think he makes a great overall point here.

I might be the only person on this site hoping for the game to be rained out.

Considering we don't have a team of speedsters, the lack of steals doesn't bother me at all.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 30, 2006 -> 08:26 PM) Thornton. Im starting to buy into Coop ALOT more..... Wasn't Nardi Contreras the pitching coach for Thornton in Seattle? If so, that's like going from the outhouse to the penthouse.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Mar 30, 2006 -> 07:27 PM) You do realize I posted that before the game even happened. I'm basing my info from alot of practice reports and his previous high school play. He's certainly an upgrade at PG for GT or just about any team in the nation, but he's not going to cure their problem's unless he plays more unselfish. I don't base any of my opinions of players on All-Star games, and I hope nobody else will either. No, i didn't realize that. I apologize for the all-star comment. I just am confused at why so many UNC fans were so critical of him last night. I don't think I saw Ellington or Henderson pass the ball once.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Mar 29, 2006 -> 09:06 PM) Crittendon is tempering my enthusiasm for GT next year. He's a PG that looks for his own shot 1st, which is exactly what GT doesn't need. Sure he will add a defensive presence to the position, but I wonder how much better he will make the team. Um, you do know this was an all-star game, right? I can't believe the amount of complaining about Crittenton I've seen from UNC fans....even though I also think he shot too much last night and Lawson didn't get enough playing time. However, Hewitt will get Crittenton to play a team game, as there's going to be 4 other scoring options on the court at times. Also, if you saw what GT had at point guard last season, you'd know that Crittenton is about 50 times better than what they had at that position.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 29, 2006 -> 10:50 PM) Interestingly, Konerko's DP's were WAY down last year, from 28 in his awful 03 season to 22 in 04 to only 9 last year. Different people in front of him? Maybe some of it, certainly easier to double up Thomas than Podsednik, but 22 to 9 is a pretty darn massive drop IMO. I think Thome's going to get on a lot more than Everett and Frank did in the 3rd spot last season. My comment wasn't meant to knock PK at all. If there's a guy on first, and he hits a grounder on the infield, it's likely going to be a DP.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Mar 29, 2006 -> 10:33 PM) I don't mean to be a wet blanket because I know we got Thome for this but... I just hope we're not forgetting small ball/Ozzieball/smartball, whatever. I think the more we play not to only score "one" run, the better our offense will be. I'll say this though....PK is going to hit into a ton of double plays this year (that's a compliment to Thome).

For the person who asked if Thome hits homers in bunches......following him on the Indians over the years, I remember how he would go through periods where you could throw a 85 mph fastball down the plate, and he'd strikeout on it. However, there would also be times where he'd hit 10 homers in a 15 or 20 game stretch. He's a very streaky hitter, much the way Jermaine Dye is. Another guy who's incredibly streaky is Mackowiak.

QUOTE(ChiSoxCE2005 @ Mar 29, 2006 -> 08:34 PM) Damn Freddy...c'mon, we need one solid outing before the season. We do? He pitched very well in the WBC. Freddy might care less about spring training than any pitcher in baseball.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 29, 2006 -> 08:23 PM) The wind screwed Iguchi on that one but I've noticed that he is terrible at making catches when he has to backpeddle into the outfield. He actually got so bad at it last season that he'd be scared to go after some pop flies behind first base or in shallow RF. Luckily, you don't see too many of those type of plays during a season.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 29, 2006 -> 08:18 PM) Iguchi CANNOT make a catch running backwards, although the wind probably had an impact. I bet Cintron would have caught it

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ Mar 29, 2006 -> 08:10 PM) Seriously, if you aren't watching, its quite funny. He's basically doing his best Kevin Hickey impression. I thought that's what he did in the first inning of every game

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Mar 29, 2006 -> 06:13 AM) Huggins reminds me of Pat Kennedy. They are awesome recruiters, but they suck at coaching so they usually don't get the best out of their players. I'm not a fan of Huggins, and I would hate to root for a team with him as a coach. However, he's a much better coach than Kennedy. At least Huggins gets his teams to play tough and rebound well.