ZoomSlowik

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 12:06 AM) RJ-Mussina-Chacon-Wang-Pavano/Wright/Small...you can't question their depth, but I would venture to guess none of those pitchers crack the Sox top 6. I'd still take Randy on our staff, at least for this year (who knows how many he has left). Most people think he had an off year last year, and he still finished 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA, 211 strikeouts, and a WHIP around 1.12. I know the record is a bit inflated, but that's still pretty solid for about 98% of the pitchers in the league. But yeah, the rest of the staff is pretty brutal. I'm not sure how you think you're going to win when your #2 is Mussina and you don't know who your #3 is because they are all pretty bad.

QUOTE(ChWRoCk2 @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 02:15 PM) I just mentioned bonds in terms of alou, figuring alou hits before barry and barry produces alou should put up good numbers, last year he he played mostly second half and did really well i like his chances. I plan on getting atlantas closer, im hopin its reitsma but it could be sosa. Personally i think wily mo was a great pick if he starts which according to yahoo he is but its not for certain. Willy Mo is not that solid. He'll hit 25-30 homers if he is the full-time starter, but he'll also probably hit around .250, with maybe 80 RBI and a low runs total, since he isn't exactly a disciplined hitter.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 01:53 PM) i really like ohio state's chances. i've liked them all season really. to me, they have all the elements you need to make a deep tournament run. great guard play from foster and butler (the league's best point guard, imo), have a great big man who scores well and can play defense, have good depth and an outstanding coach. of course, with ohio state you can always run into the trouble of having a cold-shooting night or having dials in foul trouble. that could end anyone's run, though. outside of them i am having a really hard time assessing how the other teams are going to fare. big ten teams have played like utter crap on the road in the league, and i'm not sure if that's a result of the league being so strong or those teams just not having what it takes from a mental toughness standpoint to win on the road. the latter scenario would not bode well for teams in the tournament. I've also liked OSU since they put together that run out of conference. I knew Dials would be a stud, but I didn't think their guard play was going to be as solid as it is. I'd feel a lot better about them if they had another big man though. If Dials gets in foul trouble, it could get interesting. It might also be a problem if they face a really big, athletic team, but I can't think of one that also has good enough guards to keep up with OSU, other than UConn. As I've said, Illinois is the only other team that I really have any faith in, although I think their chances of getting past the Sweet 16 are fairly slim. Every other team looks like a world-beater one night and awful the next (I guess the Illini do it to, but they get by with their defense). I think the team with the best shot of making a run outside of those two is Michigan, but only if they get 100% healthy or very close to it. They haven't fallen off the face of the earth despite playing without Abram for most of conference play, without Harris for two games and half of two others (they might have beaten OSU if he hadn't gotten hurt), without Smith for a few games, and are now playing without Hunter. If they do get healthy and no one suffers significant slumps getting back into game shape, a starting lineup of Horton-Harris-Abram-Brown-Sims with Hunter, Pettway, Coleman, and Smith off the bench is a very impressive lineup. On paper, that's the best team in the conference, although I'm not sure how close they can get to a full squad between now and the tournament.

I'm definitely mystified by this MSU team. On paper, they looked like a top 5 team that could run away with the conference. It just hasn't materialized though. Even taking the Ager/Brown/Davis trio out of the equation, guys like Gray and Trannon are awesome athletes that could be making as big an impact as Randle (or bigger), and Neitzel seems to have enough talent to be a top PG. They just haven't been consistent enough though. What's funny is I felt the same way about their team last year, only obviously the PG spot was a bigger issue. This just seems like a team that could beat anyone if they went out their and played their best game, but they never seem to do it. I shudder to think of what they would be doing if Weber was coaching that level of talent.

QUOTE(KWs OK for Me @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 12:38 AM) The one team I think will definately falter in the tournament is Illinois. The team only goes as far as Dee Brown takes them. And if he is somewhat off on any given day and Augustine gets his normal 2 fouls in the first five minutes Illinois is primed to be upset in the second round. However, I think that they are going to get too good of a seed because of their success from last year. In my opinion they are hardly a top 25 team (somewhere between 17 and 23) and 5 or 4 seed at best. Oh well. Thats my thought. I think the Big Ten tournament will give everyone a good idea of who will make a run in the tournament. Oh, and I think MSU will make it the farthest in the tournament out of any Big Ten team. Okay, so Wisconsin can get by with only two really strong contributors, and the Illini can't even though they have a better supporting cast? Dee's shot poorly almost every game this year, and it hasn't really come back to hurt them. Augustine has gotten in foul trouble at times, but it isn't all that regular an occurence. It's highly unlikely that they lose in the first round, and unless they get a really tough team in the second round I don't see it happening either. I don't really see the love for MSU either. They have 3 really good players, I won't argue that. However, Neitzel is extremely inconsistent, Ager has been shooting poorly for some time, and they're in at least as bad of shape as Illinois sans Augustine if Davis gets in foul trouble. They really needed one of their PF's or bench players to step up to excel, taking some pressure off the top guys. That hasn't happened tough. I don't think they'll lose in the first round, but depending on who they draw it could be about 50-50 in the second, and I don't think they can knock off most of the higher seeds.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 06:00 PM) Using G-Town as an example, it only has 1 really big player, the rest are 6'9. Wisconsin will run the swing offense, putting in Chappel, Butch, Tucker, Nixon, and Taylor. They will spread the court so that Chappel and Butch are both at the 3 point arc, meaning that G-Town will have to move its 2 biggest out, or play zone. If they move out, Wisconsin will post Tucker, Nixon, and Taylor, using Nixon's 6'7 as a guard to their advantage, or using Tucker's quickness and fakes to take advantage of the slower bigger player (smaller players actually play Tucker better). If the play zone, Wisconsin will pack the paint with Butch, Chappel, Tucker, and try and get Taylor/Nixon open for good looks beyond the 3-point arc. Its not like Wisconsin is a bunch of sub 6'5 players, almost the entire team outside of 3 are over 6'6. And its not like many teams are running out more than 2 6'10 players. I mean Wisconsin is not as big with out Steitsma, but having 3 6'10 players is something most teams dont have. As for the rest, Illinois lost to Penn State at home, Wisconsin thrashed Penn State 2 times by more than 20 points. Does that mean Illinois is not a good team? All it means is on any given day, that is why the upcoming weeks and tournament are the most important. If Wisconsin splits Iowa and MSU away, and gets to the Big 10 tourney final, they have to be considered a real threat. Outside of ND State, they have only lost away and only 2 of those games have been to non-ranked opponents, Purdue and Michigan. 2 bad games, thats all Wisconsin has had this season. ::shrugs:: I dont think its homerism, I think its just fair analysis. Im not coming in here saying Wisconsin will win the tournament, im saying they should make the sweet 16. Wisconsin tournament record since 2000: 2000- Final Four, eliminated by MSU (NC winner) 2001- Eliminated first round 2002- Second Round, eliminated by Maryland (NC winner) 2003- Sweet 16, eliminated by Kentucky 2004- Second round, eliminated by Pittsburgh 2005- Elite 8, eliminated by UNC (NC Winner) Since 2002, Bo Ryan's first year coaching, Wisconsin has never been eliminated in the first round. And has never been eliminated as a favorite. Every team can lose, but Ryan has been very successful in the NCAA tournament with lesser talent. This year he has as good of talent as he has ever had, and I think they will make some noise. 6'9" is a bit bigger than 6'6", and Bowman and Green are really athletic at that height. I don't really see how having 2 6'9" guys and a 7'2" guy is worse than having 2 6'10" guys, and Georgetown has another wing player that's 6'7". More importantly, all of those guys can score, something that can't be said for a lot of the bigger players throughout the country. They always play a zone anyways, and they do it pretty well. I've seen a lot of teams with better offensive options than Wisconsin struggle against them. Butch isn't really going to help them inside against anyone good. His strength is perimeter play, and he's not going to dominate anyone with real talent inside. I also wouldn't expect Taylor to get a ton of open jumpers since GT play good perimeter defense and are obviously going to key on him. I found it interesting that you chose to comment on them and not the other two teams also. You keep harping on one game as a measure for how good a team is, and that is a really bad tactic. Illinois losing to PSU by one doesn't really change anything. If you really want to use that approach, Illinois beat Wisconsin on their home floor by 15. That has a lot more value comparing the two teams than a couple of games against another Big Ten dog that isn't going anywhere. Illinois is going to go farther because they play better defense and they have several guys that can seriously impact the game other than Dee and Augustine. If Wisconsin actually wins a few more games maybe they're a bit more of threat, although I don't think it's too likely. They haven't proven that they can beat anyone good away from the Kohl Center, and even with the home court advantage they lost big to Illinois and had the debacle against ND State. Plus they still lost to Purdue and Wake Forest on the road, both of which are having really bad years. That's 4 pretty bad games by my count, and that's without a whole lot of good wins on the other side of things. They're starting to slip towards a 6 or 7 seed, which sets them up for a really tough road. I don't really care what they'e done in the past. That has no bearing on what is happening now. Last I checked, Devin Harris and Mike Wilkinson aren't on the roster. I don't see how you can say that this is the most talented team he's had. It's far from it. They have 3 players that are any good, and I'm being somewhat generous in including Butch (he has talent, but he has no consistency and has struggled more often in Big Ten play than before it). Especially considering that they're probably going to end up facing a 2 or 3 seed in the second round, the Sweet 16 isn't very likely.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 09:35 PM) Well I expect Thomas to put up some RBI's since he's playing on a pretty nice Oakland team and hitting behind Chavez. I think Chavez is a great 3B and drafted Crede solely on being his backup. I expect Milton Bradley to return to his .300/25/95 ways with Oakland. Besides the issue that he brought up, I think you need another solid starter. Halladay is obviously a stud, Contreras has potential to dominate, and Haren and Hernandez are pretty good. However, Pavano is an iffy proposition given his history, and Madison is a major wildcard. I wouldn't trade anything of value, just keep your eye out for another starter, preferably a veteran.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 06:13 PM) I'm sure. He Gone!

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 05:04 PM) JelloShooters is Alex and Brain Fart is my buddy. Kick out Castro's Cronies, they aren't anyone thats supposed to be in the league. Are you sure? I don't want to kick someone out and find out that I screwed up.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 04:50 PM) Wisconsin is good against big teams, they have big players. Their starting line up only has 1 player under 6'6 (Taylor) and Tucker is the next smallest player. Wisconsin has gotten a lot of bad press because of 1 bad losing streak after a few players were suspended. Now that they have had time to work it out, they have been playing much better. 6'6" isn't that big. Butch and Chappell are their only real big players. The first one is kind of soft and the second one isn't very good. Tucker is their best post player, and he's listed at 6'6". Someone like Texas, OSU, or Georgetown could absolutely kill them inside and on the glass. They've only played 3 games since they lost those games. OSU was an impressive win (albiet at home), but the other two were Penn State and an Indiana team that hasn't won a game since NU on February first. Considering that they were down 9 at the half against OSU, that's one really impressive half in 3 games. That's not exactly a whole lot of evidence that they've turned it around. The reasons I think they aren't going very far isn't that they lost to ND State and Purdue (although they do contribute). It's the fact that they are a suspect ballhandling team, they don't force many turnovers on defense, they shoot a paltry 44.3% from the field, they shoot 19 3's per game even though they only hit 35.2%, they only have 3 players that average more than 6.5 points per game, and they're not a particularly good rebounding team. I understand you're a Wisconsin fan and you want to believe that your team can do something, but I just don't see it.

Okay, some of these names I can figure out, but who is Jello Shooters, BrainFart, and Castros Cronies?

I think it's possible that a Big Ten team makes a run to the Elite 8 or Final Four. However, there's no way they win it all, and at least one team is going to fall flat on their face. I think Illinois makes it to the Sweet 16 unless they get a really nasty draw. After that they'd have to play a 1 or 2 seed, where their run probably ends. Their best chances of pulling the upset are probably Duke, Gonzaga, or Tennessee. OSU can definitely put together a run if they're shooting well. They should get a similar seed as the Illini, and a lot of the favorable matchups for the two teams would be similar. I think they also have a better shot at beating Villanova though, because they're a bit more athletic and can probably take advantage of Nova's size deficiency a bit more. MSU is a really tough team to read. They're probably the most gifted of the teams, but for some reason they can never put it together. I don't think they're as deep as they were last year, so I think they're probably a Sweet 16 at best. Iowa and Wisconsin get my votes for most likely to flop. Iowa has not shot well most of the year, and they don't have many reliable scoring options. If they face an athletic team with solid ball handling, they're probably going down. Wisconsin needs a lot of help in my opinion. They haven't done much outside of the Kohl Center, and they don't have a very productive roster outside of Tucker, Taylor, and Butch. They need to avoid big and/or athletic teams, and Taylor really needs to shoot well. If Indiana or make the tournament, they are also teams I think will be a quick out. Now that Michigan is probably in, I think they get out of the first round but lose in the second.

After looking at the two teams, I would have let it go. The one guy's team isn't very good and would benefit from adding a couple more productive players, and the other team isn't really getting any better unless Griffey is actually healthy. Neither team gains a ridiculous advantage from the trade. I always have problems when guys try to make multi-player deals. It's always pretty subjective, especially when one player is considerably better than the rest of them. It's hard to determine how valuable someone like A-Rod or Pujols really is.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 02:25 PM) Only 5 people have signed up. Yeah, that's frustrating. I'll start trying to chase them down fairly soon. Edit- I sent PM's to all of the people that haven't signed up yet. If I don't here from them by some time Monday afternoon, I'll start trying to re-fill the spots.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 12:30 AM) In a 11 team keeper league. Can keep 10 guys. 1.V.Martinez 2.M. Giles 3.C.Tracey 4.Jimmy Rollins 5.Ichiro 6.A.Jones 7.B.Bonds 8.Bj Ryan 9.Barry Zito 10. Roy Halladay I think thats a pretty solid core right? I took over for someone, and I just traded Carl Crawford for Roy Hallady. That's a pretty good group of guys. You need Bonds to really perform though, since he's your only real shot at an elite player. A lot of your guys are solid but not stellar. I'd look into trading Jones. He's pretty overvalued right now, and I just can't see him putting up the same type of power numbers as he did last year. Even if he did, he doesn't run and has a bad batting average. I'd try trading him for another stud starter.

QUOTE(iWiN4PreP @ Feb 21, 2006 -> 03:46 PM) Thx for the tips, and rating.I also think my outfield is weak, thats why i made sure i had many options in the outfield by drafting 5 OF'ers. Ill see on the closer situation. I don't think your outfield is that bad. Although I think his average will drop a little, Sizemore looks like a fairly safe 20-20 guy. Hunter is similar, although with a lower average and a little more power. Holliday is a real sleeper that could put up some huge numbers. I'm not entirely thrilled with Baldelli and Gomes though. You should be alright there, especially since productive outfielders are fairly easy to get in FA. Just try to pick up a fairly consistent veteran (or maybe Delmon Young, he should be a stud) about a month into the season.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 21, 2006 -> 12:11 PM) Doesn't a sleeper cease to be a sleeper when everyone keeps talking about them? Somewhat. Justin Morneau got so much hype last year he wasn't really a sleeper anymore, and the same is true with Felix Hernandez and Ryan Howard this year. However, typically there is enough difference of opinion on a player that they don't shoot up the draft board just by someone mentioning them as a potential sleeper.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Feb 21, 2006 -> 11:08 AM) I remember when Slam used to make a big deal about how hot his wife was... Can the first one be gordon instead of Deng too? Both look virtually impossible anyways. The Garnett ones looks like a longshot, that's for sure. For KG, it probably has to be Deng. The other one seems to make sense, although I really wish it wasn't the Knicks' pick too since we are taking LaFrentz and his $10 mil a year contract off their hands.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 21, 2006 -> 11:29 AM) to be honest, I was shocked how far Gagne and Bonds fell in my first draft. I got them in the 6th and 7th rounds. That's the other definition of sleeper, since those guys can drastically outproduce their draft spot. A couple of other guys that fit that category: Jim Thome Chad Tracy Javier Vazquez Rich Harden (typically 5th round, can be top 5 pitcher) Curt Schilling Add John Lackey in here too, he's got pretty good potential.

There are a ton of them, but it also depends on your definition of sleeper. It could mean guys that drastically outperform their ratings even if they are in the 8th round, or it could be late round guys that might be studs. Since it seems like most of the ones we're saying are late draft guys, I'll give you a few from that category: Jeremy Hermida Kenji Jojima Matt Cain Kelvim Escobar Ryan Zimmerman

Couple of trades that Chad Ford suggested in an article on ESPN: Deng, Duhon, Thomas, Pike, Allen, and both 1st rounders for Garnett and Jaric Gordon, Duhon, Thomas, Pike, and Knicks' pick for Pierce and LaFrentz Obviously the Bulls are giving up a ton in both deals. I think I can live with the Garnett one because we are getting one of the best players in the league and Jaric is a serviceable guard. We'd probably have to go after another forward to really make it work, but I'm not sure how much cap space we'd have left. The second deal I don't like so much. LaFrentz is fairly useless and expensive, and it seems like a bit much to include the Knicks' pick. If it were our pick that would seem better for us, and I don't think it'd be a deal breaker for the Celtics.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 04:57 PM) OF could use some work, especially if Abreu continues his ways pre all-star game. I think Tracy is overrated and eventually will show that this year. Just a hunch. I like your pitching. Isringhausen is one of the most solid guys out there. I think you mean post All-star game. I'd be pretty happy if he gave me his pre-All-star numbers. I'm expecting about 25 homers with 30 steals and an average around .280. That's not that unreasonable (actually right around his career average as a starter), and is still pretty good. He's too good a hitter to do much worse. My only real concern with him is that he stops running, but that doesn't seem terribly likely. He had a rough half a season, everyone is bound to do it once in a while. I'm also a little leery about Tracy, but he'll at least give me the batting average even if I don't get the 30 homers. I know Alou is an injury risk, but he hits when he's healthy. Winn isn't anything special, but he's probably good for about 15 homers and 20 steals, and hitting in front of Bonds should help a lot. I think I got a steal in Hermida, he's got enough power and speed to produce like an early round pick. This team is a result of my strategy toward OF's. I typically draft a player at a different position as opposed to an OF if the value is similar. There are just so many more quality options than at other positions. I'm not going to pass on someone like Vlad or Manny, but I don't really think it's worth using an early pick on people like Damon or Matsui when I get get someone similar 3 or 4 rounds later. Plus I can usually find at least one credible option in FA, and I've got a high priority so I can someone that gets dropped or Delmon Young when/if the D-Rays ever realize that he's at worst their second best option at the position.

Even if he's totally healthy and plays close to 162 games (he's only played over 150 once in the past 8 years), I don't think he gets it this year. The 3 years after hitting 73 he put up 46, 45, and 45 homers. That's about tops for what he will get this year. People just aren't going to pitch to him, assuming he's his old self. If he's a little off or has some nagging injury the puts him on the DL for a while (which seems fairly likely), he's down to the 35-40 range, which seems fairly realistic. I find it hard to believe he'd retire without the record. However, I just don't think he does it this year.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 03:42 PM) #8 in both polls, nice. I am still amazed this team is the #8 team in America, we just don't look NEARLY that good. What a down year nationwide. No kidding, once you get past the big 4 of Duke, UConn, Villanova, and Memphis the teams start getting pretty suspect.

QUOTE(Steff @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 03:49 PM) We're starting from scratch, correct..? Yes, we're starting over. We have at least 4 new players, so it would be difficult not to.