fathom

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 10:53 PM) Regardless, I'm done with the Japanese smoke-and-mirrors pitching experiment. Once these guys are seen by the majority of the league, they're toast in the MLB. I think it has more to do with the fact that they throw so many pitches at early ages in the Japanese system, they lose their stuff at a very young age.

I think he's likely heading back to Japan. Even though it's the type of guy that could help our team, his control is just way too shaky to count on out of the pen.

Ozuna knows how to slap the ball and take advantage of his speed. He also knows he's not a home run hitter. Willie never did learn how to take advantage of his speed (which I still claim that he's not as fast as people think he is). As a matter of fact, I'd bet that Ozuna is faster than Willie.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 07:57 PM) I have a feeling this year it will be Vazquez and Garcia. I definitely agree with this statement.

Isn't Eaton the pitcher who has real question marks about his ability to throw off-speed pitches the rest of his career?

Eaton's going to give up a TON of homers in the AL pitching at Texas. I think this deal makes the Dodgers the most likely trade partner for Garland.

Vidro's best days are way, way behind him.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 05:03 PM) They should've kept Willie. He looked good after he came up. He had no place on the team in 2006. We have a guy who can back-up 2nd base. We also have some speed off the bench. What we need is another outfielder, hopefully a righty or switch hitter.

BTW, I'd like to thank Willie Harris for the 8th inning in Game 4 of the WS. I'll always appreciate his career with the Sox for that sequence.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:57 PM) What do you think will happen with Borchard? I don't want to speak for Jim, but again, after reading KW's quotes all offseason regarding Borchard, I don't think he'll be back.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:56 PM) KW must have really been turned off by Harris' refusal to play SS in winter ball. He was a big Willie Harris guy for a long while IIRC. All you had to do was read the quotes from a few weeks ago, and you knew he was gone.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:53 PM) ^^^ No joke. I am glad to see these guys go just so I don't have to listen to the over the ledge crowd complain about them... unfortunately, they will just find someone else to b**** about, just call it faith. Were the Timo jokes that bad after the new policies on this board? I thought things cleaned up pretty well.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:48 PM) Urbina would be a good pick up but I think many people would be very upset with him coming to the Sox. I remember how many people didn't want Pierzynski because of the clubhouse cancer rumors. Of course, attempted murder charges are a bit more serious than being a clubhouse cancer. Don't worry, Urbina's rep for being a clubhouse cancer is about equal to his attempted murder charges. However, that's a discussion for another day. Let's get back to the real reason for this thread....the end of the Timo era! You can argue he's the only member of the playoff roster who didn't do a damn thing to help us in the postseason (Hermanson is the only other person who didn't really contribute).

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:47 PM) Will he have one of those things around his ankle? Not sure, but I don't think too many people would mess with him if he hit someone intentionally.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:44 PM) Oh, come on. Timo was a good bench guy in 2004 but he was very bad in 2005 and should have never been leading off for us at any point in the season. I think everyone agrees and I'm not the only one who is extremely happy with this move. As happy as I am that Timo is gone, I'm just as happy with the organizational approach I see so far where they're not letting sentiments/personal friendships get in the way of making the SMART baseball decision. With that in mind, I still think we're more likely to see U. Urbina pitching for the Sox in June than we are Jon Garland.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:41 PM) Nothing could be more tiresome than seeing Timo Perez leading off for your favorite team.

QUOTE(JimH @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:38 PM) Watch Perez get non tendered and then brought back on a minor league deal, ha. Still better than paying him a million dollars like we did in 2005.

QUOTE(JimH @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:38 PM) Watch Perez get non tendered and then brought back on a minor league deal, ha. I could see him being brought in as Uribe's translator.

Timo's going to have a lot of clutch hits next season...in the Independent League.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:35 PM) To many good players on this team. Isn't it something how much the talent's been upgraded this offseason?

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 04:35 PM) And Soxtalk has officially run out of whipping boys. cough cough LF defense cough cough

Wohoo!! OMIT TIMO!

Here's the one thing to keep in mind with Contreras.....you don't have to worry about him wanting to test free agency in order to get the big money from the New York teams. I think only King Kong had a worse experience in New York than Contreras did.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 08:00 AM) We'll see what happens, but I think they have to move at least one of these guys if they can't sign them. Oh, I'll definitely agree with that. I know I use hyperboles often, but I'll be stunned if Garland is on the 2006 White Sox roster.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 20, 2005 -> 07:52 AM) So we should just let them walk? No, but if we start trading them away in the offseason before their last season, it just seems like we're going to be hurting our MLB team that season. I'm a much bigger fan of just playing with your players, and if you're doing well, try to win the whole f'n thing. If your season isn't going well, then trade the player for prospects. However, don't keep using the prospects as chips to trade for high-priced players. The reason for that is that those players are going to be in the same situations that Garland and Contreras are currently in, so we're just as likely to start trading them if they don't want to sign extensions. BTW, this really isn't that big of a deal right now. I think we'll eventually get Contreras signed to a 2 year deal with a player option, but there wasn't a chance in hell that Contreras and his agent agreed to the first proposal.