fathom

QUOTE(JimH @ Mar 13, 2006 -> 06:50 PM) Here are the White Sox position player prospects I think will make it: Sweeney - he will be a starter and a very good player. They won't trade him. Owens - He will be a 4th OF but is not an irreplaceable long term cog. He may start for us or some other team for a few years though. Valido - He will start at SS for us or some lower level team but will never be a great hitter. He is a good instinctive ballplayer though, even now at age 20-21. Chris Stewart - He will hang around the big leagues for 5-6 yrs. as a fringe backup catcher. As for pitchers, what they have now is a total crapshoot, they'll know more what they have after 2006. I'd say right now that Sweeney is the one guy in our minors who I'm sure will make it as a starter in the big leagues. Owens, in my opinion, is nothing special as a MLB prospect. Sure, he has the tools that Ozzie wants in the player.....but so do guys like Endy Chavez, etc. I still can't understand why we took Broadway over Carrillo. The one thing I love about KW now is that he's going to do his best to put a winner on the field THIS YEAR. Too many GMs try to build for the future, and three or four years later, they're fired. KW overlooked our bullpen this offseason. However, I'm confident he'll do his best to get another big league arm.

For some reason, I've thought all along Borchard would be involved in a deal with another prospect to the Pirates for Salomon Torres.

Sweeney and Fields aren't going to be traded. Ozzie loves Sweeney, and Fields gives us more leverage in future negotiations with Crede. Owens would be the ideal guy to trade, IMO. His value will never be higher than it is right now.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 13, 2006 -> 04:52 AM) Can I just get the clutch homers without the horrible strikeouts, AVG, OBP, and butchery on defense? If so, sign me up! Don't forget trying to steal 3rd base while the pitcher is still in the stretch.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 13, 2006 -> 04:45 AM) Jphat.....where are you.... It kinda sucks how predictable this Hermanson stuff was.

BTW, I mentioned this yesterday, but I think McCarthy is better suited for starting than relieving. I'll be interested in seeing how his changeup is coming out of the pen.

I've actually been more impressed by some of the lefties than I have been with the righties like Hermanson, Redding, and Tracey. JimH is absolutely correct in his analysis of what we need, who might be willing to trade, and what we'll have to offer. Good to see you around Jim.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 10:27 PM) I wonder if Redding or Tracey would take Hermy's place if he is hurt? Again, I'll take Option C then, which is none of the above.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 10:01 PM) Anyone know much about Stewart? BP thinks he's a good bet to knock Widger off the roster in a couple of months. Widger's not going anywhere. Hell, he's been our best hitter of guys on the big league roster so far. I haven't been impressed with Stewart when I've seen him.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:50 PM) Who's worse -- Hermanson or Redding? KW will be swinging a trade for a reliever soon. Borchard and a decent prospect or two for another bullpen arm. Redding is absolutely terrible. I watched him pitch a lot vs the Cubs, and not once did I think "wow, I would love for this guy to be pitching in our bullpen".

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:46 PM) I think he is being a little Cub-esque as far as his health is concerned. If he says his back is fine, he most likely isn't telling the whole truth. Hopefully it is just a question of building up arm strength, or strength in general. But it doesn't look like he's going to be ready to get major leaguers out for a while. From this former pitcher's point of view, he wasn't throwing as over-the-top as he used to. Thus, his pitchers were flattening out, and it's also why he hasn't been able to throw his splitter all year. His splitter was his "out" pitch last season. Once he lost command of that, he was no longer effective last season.

Tim Redding......how many homers will he allow in Charlotte this year?

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:42 PM) Every quote I've read from Dustin stated that his back wasn't a problem. What's he going to say in the press? "Yeah, my back is still sore, and I'm worried about my velocity"? It just seemed by some of the rationalizations I read that things weren't right with him.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:39 PM) It appears my worrying is for a legitimate reason. How dare you be concerned about an older pitcher who lost his stuff at the end of last season due to a bad back injury, didn't have surgery, and then has failed to regain his stuff so far this year!!!! Let me guess....you're concerned about Kerry Wood's health also?

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:36 PM) You're always worried. I was just saying that before today, there was nothing that said Dustin was having physical problems. That's obviously not the case. There was plenty of speculation about his health. You could tell he was even concerned about it.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:27 PM) I couldn't agree more. What's the use of spending all that money on a starting rotation if the middle guys are going to cough it up. Hermanson not being healthy should not be a surprise. Ask the Cubs last year what it's like to have a good starting staff, but shaky depth in the bullpen.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:24 PM) Man, Hermanson is a gascan. Leadoff double. Ozzie comes out to pull him. Singleton said either his back is f***ed up or he has a blister. Hermanson looked like he had no flexibility in his back. Thus, he couldn't drive off the mound with his back leg, and lost some velocity because of that.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:25 PM) Hermanson is even worse than I thought. This is the Angels B team. That's the last time we'll see him on the mound for a long time.

This is painful to watch. Even DJ is saying that Dustin isn't close to what he was. And Dustin leaves the field with the trainer.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:22 PM) You should start all your posts like that, definitely made me laugh. I've noticed some noobies on the board recently, so I just wanted to make sure they knew who they were dealing with.

Hermanson hurt? Dustin.....the DL is calling your name.

In my pessimistic opinion, we're going to have to acquire another big league arm for our bullpen before the season starts. Our starting pitching is too talented/expensive to waste because of a couple of glaring holes in the pen.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:17 PM) I really don't even see him doing anything this year. He'll probably have to start out the year on the DL simply because he'll go down with back problems near the end of spring training. IMO, Sean Tracey is a better option out of the pen than Dustin Hermanson. I'll take option C at this point.

Hermanson's last fastball = 83 mph

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:14 PM) Hermanson = Toast Would it be so bad if he started the season on the DL in order to gain strength? It also looks like he's changed his arm angle on his pitches.