fathom

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 4, 2005 -> 07:59 PM) That's why we brought back Timo, and there's no need to rush Sweeney or Anderson either. Secondly, why b**** about Timo's contract when Ben Davis is making the same amount and get this, is playing the same position as AJ? Shouldn't these pessimists worried about giving out $1 million to a bench player in a large market be more concerned with Davis' contract rather than Timo's? Difference between signing someone like Davis to $1 mil and Timo to the same amount is that you know that Davis, being one of the top 2 catchers on the team with or without A.J., is going to start around 20 to 25 pct of the games behind the plate. Not only that, but there would have likely been more teams willing to give Davis around that same amount of money to come to the team as a BACK-UP catcher and see if he can fulfill some of his potential. That's the thing though, he's no better than a back-up catcher. That's why we need A.J. The difference between Victor Martinez, Mauer, and I-Rod is ridiculous when compared to Ben Davis. A.J. makes the Sox a lot more respectable.

QUOTE(Sanjay2000 @ Jan 4, 2005 -> 07:50 PM) Maybe he is slightly overpriced...but Neifi Perez of the Chicago Cubs is also making a million dollars so there are other similarly priced contracts out there. The Timo and Neifi signings were two of the most ridiculed by different baseball experts because both players are well below average at their positions for the cost. Mark Sweeney just signed for 550k with the Padres. Last year, he had an OPS of .885 and was the most dangerous bat off the bench in baseball. If we had spent a million on him, then I wouldn't have had a problem with him. Don't forget that Dye isn't exactly good at avoiding injury. When Timo had to start in the outfield last year, he was awful.

I find it interesting how so many people like Timo, and one of the reasons for that in my opinion is how Hawk always has great things to say about him. However, Hawk also had tremendous things to say about Pierzynski, as he always said how he caught the best games against the Sox out of all the catchers that had been in the AL.

Another thing is that we already have our lefty off the bench in R. Gload. We didn't really need a designated lefty hitter off the bench besides him. I would have actually liked to see a right handed reserve outfielder that could play for Podsednik against the real tough lefties in our division. Pierzynski and Borchard/Escobar is better than Davis and Timo

Reserve outfielders are a dime a dozen. Hell, the week after we signed Timo for one million, two other reserves in D. Mohr and Hollandsworth, who are a lot better than Timo, signed for base contracts which were cheaper. Another thing about a reserve outfielder is that you want them to be good enough on defense where they can be brought in as a defensive replacement if needed. Timo has a good arm, but his range in the outfield is pathetic.

If it's true that we're about 500k or a million dollars short of what A.J. wants, the Timo contract will piss me off even more. We would be basically sacrificing a catcher who would play 120 games at least for a below average backup outfielder who would start about 30 games, barring injuries.

Not to rain on everyone's parade, but what evidence do we have to know that A.J. is even considering the White Sox? It's been rumored that approximately 6 teams have offered him a contract. With Varitek signing with the Red Sox, I would have thought that A.J. would have decided on a team by now. I hope we get him, but I can't say I'm optimistic about our chances right now.

One thing that worries me about Burke is that he sure seemed to be finding all the holes last year. He was swinging Hawk's mythical "magic wand" last year. I wouldn't be shocked if he hit .225 last year as opposed to .325.

Yeah, I'm sure some Independent League team is looking for a long reliever. No, Grilli has absolutely no trade bait.

Willie Harris is not a number 2 hitter. He doesn't know how to handle the bat at all. He's a terrible sacrifice bunter. A couple of things that Willie really needs to improve on are not rolling over on his wrists, which causes him to hit weak grounders to 2b and to also improve his eye at the plate in regards to taking pitches with 2 strikes. Way too many times last year did he strikeout looking.

No way we were going to give him a 3 year deal, and St. Louis can offer him a guaranteed starting spot. At least he'll hopefully torment the Cubs now.

Remember though, Eckstein and Cora can play SS, while I don't think Cairo has played SS in a long time, if ever, in the majors.

Anyone that has seen Eckstein play would be nuts to want Willie Harris over Eckstein. Eckstein isn't dynamic or explosive, but he truly plays the game right, and he's not the type of player you'd have to worry about not being able to get a key sac bunt down or be concerned about him not making contact in a crucial situation. Miguel Cairo is another veteran that I would have no problem with on this team. Personally, I thought one of the main reasons that the Sox slumped so much last year was because of the prolonged slumps that Willie would get in where he was absolutely no threat at the plate or on the bases.

There's a big difference between reporting we offered someone a deal, and saying that someone is flying in for a physical. The physical report is much more legit ot me, cause that's the type of information that usually means a deal is officially on the table.

I wonder if Contreras and El Duque get along well? Maybe that's a reason that El Duque would consider the White Sox.

Only on the White Sox board would people complain about having El Duque instead of Jason F'n Grilli. We begged KW to get a 5th starter...and it looks like he may get us one without taking too big of a risk.

Last year, he gave up 9 homers in 84 innings. That's good enough for me. I think the people that will complain about this thought the Sox would actually get in a bidding war for an average pitcher like D. Lowe or Milton. If we really do get him for about 5 million, we should still have enough money left to get a quality middle infielder.

El Duque is much better than Grilli or Diaz. I would have no problem with him coming in, as it seems that Odalis, Lowe, and Wade Miller will go for a lot more money.

A.J. is married...to a very pretty woman. I've personally seen his wedding photos.

So we have our catchers for the season. KW now has to find a middle infielder and another starting pitcher. He's saved like 9 million over the last two weeks. I guess the rest of the offseason will prove to us what the motive was for the Carlos trade. Prove me wrong KW.

4th place, here we come! The funniest thing about that article was KW saying we have a solid pitching staff from top to bottom. Everyone does realize that Grilli had a near 5 ERA in the minors last year, right?

We need a middle infielder that we can count on to hit lefties. Cora has rarely played against lhp during his career. I would have no problem with Cora being our 2nd baseman, with Willie out of the picture. However, having Cora be Willie's back-up makes no sense.

Not many teams are going to compete for the playoffs when you have the worst catching core in the majors, one of the worst starting 2nd baseman, a below average 3rd baseman, inconsistent 3 and 4 starters, and the worst number 5 starter in the league. KW sure is a terrible general manager.

In terms of being a back-up, there's no doubt in my mind that Burke is better suited for it than Davis. First, Burke has a very short swing, while Davis has an enormously long swing which is important because if you only play once every 4 days or so, you're not going to be able to maintain a rhythm at the plate. Look at how s***ty Daubach was off the bench because of how long his swing was. Also, Davis is not much of a righty hitter, which is important because if we signed someone like A.J., then we would still need someone who could face the likes of Randy Johnson. Burke is a much better option than Davis at making contact in crucial situations, etc. Also, I don't think we should keep 3 catchers at all. We have some old guys on our team who aren't exactly speedy. We need to have guys on the bench who can pinch run or bunt in crucial situations.

Yes, Ben Davis will not sign for more money than he was making last year. The main reason we didn't tender him was because we would have had to pay him more than we wanted. By non-tendering him, we can sign him to a lesser deal. However, if we were to sign someone like A.J., I think Burke makes a much better back up player.