Kalapse

QUOTE (striker62704 @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 02:20 PM) According to Cots contracts, both AJ and Linebrink have no trade rights. Unless I'm reading this wrong. http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/c...-white-sox.html Well most everyone seems to be under the impression that the limited no trade clause that Pierzynski received with his deal in December of '05 carried over to the contract he signed in October of '07. He'll receive 10/5 no trade protection 72 days into the season so I'm not particularly worried about it.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Oct 29, 2009 -> 01:39 PM) I hope we don't go through that again. He lost his starting job and we have a need for him? Hudson did struggle over the final month and a half of the season but his decreased playing time had a lot to do with Ronnie Belliard's outstanding September (1.022 OPS) and the fact that his incentives were kicking in so he was making an extra $10,000 per plate appearance. Even with his struggles he still put up an OBP higher than Podsednik and his 2.9 WAR would have been the highest on the Sox in 2009.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Oct 29, 2009 -> 12:47 PM) Doesn't Mark Buehrle have full no trade rights now? I would think that it would be very doubtful if he would approve of a trade to the Nationals. Right now he has a limited no trade clause so he could only block trades to a few teams, he'll get his 10/5 rights on July 16th so 2 weeks before the trade deadline he'll be able to block any trade.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 29, 2009 -> 02:07 AM) Hudson fits the bill he just will be more expensive to sign then Polanco will. I see Hudson getting 4-5 years whereas Polanco could be signed for 2-3 years and at less money per year. Hudson will be lucky to get 2 guaranteed years. I didn't say the Sox would be interested, I'm just surprised that Placido's name would come up before Orlando's.

I find it shocking that Orlando Hudson's name has yet to be mentioned or maybe I'm just not paying close enough attention.

QUOTE (frankiethefixer @ Oct 29, 2009 -> 01:01 AM) I would try to put together a package for Joey Votto. It made no sense when the Reds passed over Beckham to draft Yonder Alonso. Votto and Alonso are very similar players and i can't see either playing the outfield. The Reds have a monster hole at shortstop with no starter in the majors and no prospects either. I would offer them a package of Alexei, Hudson and a 2nd tier prospect. Joey Votto is 26 years old, under team control for 4 more seasons and had the 4th highest wOBA in baseball this season. 1.) Depression issues and Alonso aside he's going nowhere and 2.) you undervalue him greatly, the consensus is that the Sox don't have the bullets to pull of a deal for Prince, right now Votto's trade value would be exponentially higher than even that of Fielder. You're better off fawning over Adrian Gonzalez, at least you know he'll be dealt within the next 400 days or so.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 27, 2009 -> 04:06 PM) Technically speaking that contract as well as the one the Sox gave Jose were complete busts. And I'd be hard pressed to see anyone put together any evidence to dispute that. Contreras had one above average 20-25 game stretch in his career and outside of that he was either a league average pitcher to a below average pitcher (depending on the season). By far the worst contract Kenny Williams has ever given out, the new deal he signed after the '05 season started in '07 effectively guaranteeing him 4 years of pay. The Sox got a big pile of suck back on their $29M investment. 08/04/05 - 06/29/06: 25 GS, 17-1, 2.87 ERA, 1.13 WHIP (3-1, 3.09 ERA, 0.86 WHIP in the postseason) 07/01/06 - 08/29/09: 87 GS, 27-45, 5.19 ERA, 1.45 WHIP

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 27, 2009 -> 03:26 PM) It would clearly be a risk though since he really did stink it up last season. He was consistently terrible. You're also going to have a hard time finding people who agree with your evaluation of his defense, aside from his canon arm he's an incredibly mediocre defender. He's also a Boras client, an HGH user and a mental midget.

I finished Uncharted 2 a few days ago, I'm shocked the game has as much replay value as it does, it's a ton of fun the second time around.

Tony LaRussa will return as Cardinals manager in 2010 as will Dave Duncan. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...rtnerId=rss_mlb

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 04:59 PM) But the point is no one defended Morgan. I made a general statement and you're attempting to lump everyone into it when I did not. I think we both agree that for the most part, his knowledge is antiquated and therefore inaccurate. Didn't mean to confuse matters or anything, you're coming at this from a much grander scale than myself, I don't really care what anyone else said in this thread, I'm strictly speaking for myself here. You were upset that people were just ripping on TV commentators without offering the names of analysts they DO like and since I did state my dislike for Phillips I figured I'd fill your request and offer up a few personalities that I do enjoy. Yeah I agree. When you start getting responses like that usually what you're dealing with is someone who doesn't have any real personal feelings on the matter so they go ahead and parrot the popular opinion on the subject and because of this you're not going to get particularly satisfying reasoning when you call them on it.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 04:34 PM) When I say top of the totem pole, I mean they work for the top networks or do their work on the prime stage. So they have the best jobs, not that they are necessarily the best at what they do. Why you are bringing up Joe Morgan, I have no idea. At no point has anyone in this thread mentioned he was good at anything. Personally, I find McCarver to be solid. But obviously I am in the minority there. The point I am trying to make is that when you are on a network or in a job that is seen as much as ESPN or Fox during the postseason games, people start making comments and they tend to stick. But far fewer people watch Dan Plesac or Rob Dibble and so they don't immediately say stupid s*** like "So and so can't form a coherent sentence." Joe Morgan is the number 1 color guy on ESPN and has been for something like 20 years now, I'd say that's a pretty good job. So his name wasn't brought up directly but he does qualify. I get what you were saying by "top of the totem pole" and that's why I mentioned Leiter, he's done playoff games for FOX and was a color guy for the YES network, that's pretty big time and I think he's great at his job. This was an attempt to eliminate bias. Saying McCarver can't form a coherent sentence is hyperbolic foolishness, I just don't think he brings great insight to the game at this point in his career unlike say 15 years ago when he was really good. He misses a lot of opportunities to expound on in game situations, things that your average broadcaster picks up on.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 04:11 PM) I like Soup as well. Plesac and Leiter I have to disagree with you about - they seem run of the mill to me. Agree about Dibble, he is very entertaining. I like Harold Reynolds a lot. I think many people have the instinct to rip on the guys at the top of the totem pole, but cheer on your Dan Plesac's that you watched start out at the bottom. There's nothing run of the mill about either, when he was with Comcast I'd probably agree that Plesac was nothing special but he's done a 180 with the MLBN his energy is incredible. I have a tough time thinking up negatives about Leiter, he's just as solid as they come. Reynolds is alright, he's a little cliche for my tastes. If the top of the totem pole is McCarver and Morgan then count me in and it has absolutely nothing to do with their success in the field, they're just far past their expiration date. Both should have been purged from the airwaves years ago before they lost their minds. Though in all fairness McCarver is far less offensive than Morgan. I don't know who else qualifies as "the top of the totem pole" but if Phillips is up there then Leiter is higher.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 04:02 PM) Again, I love how you guys rip on every single tv commentator. I would love to see a list populated of who you guys actually respect and believe to be good at what they do. I absolutely love Mitch Williams, lots of guys on the MLB Network. Leiter and Plesac are outstanding as well. Dave Campbell is also very good. Rob Dibble might be the most entertaining color guy in the game, basically the only reason to watch the Nationals this past season. I have no use for Steve Phillips.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 04:00 PM) Phillips is good at what he does, so while he's a creap, I think he brings up good points and would make the MLB Network casts even better, imo. I think he brings a very unique perspective to the table having being a former GM. That's why they have John Hart who could run circles around Steve Phillips in a baseball discussion.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 07:14 PM) So, the deal as written fills one of our OF and leadoff holes and does so cheaply, it cuts salary in the bullpen and gets us another LHP arm, and what it costs us is a weakened IF. Move Beckham to SS again, we're back open at 3b. Joshua Fields Forever? Pretty much we're filling 2 holes while opening one at 3b. But we also have people on the way up who eventually might be able to handle it. Run Fields out there and try to salvage something for a year or at least a few months, and maybe it's Viciedo time. Adrian.Beltre. Boras be damned

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 05:56 PM) Is Ellsbury really that awful in CF? He certainly wasn't an awful defensive CF as a prospect. Going in a alternate direction from UZR Ellsbury has a rating of 3.57 out of 5 in Tom Tango's 2009 "By the Fans, For the Fans" scouting reports where fans rate a player's defensive skills in 7 categories from 1 to 5, the voting has been on going since late August. 3.57 would put him in the bottom 25% of CF voted on. Basically what the voting says is that he has poor instincts/reaction timing, he largely gets by with his blazing speed and his arm is terrible and mostly accounted for the poor overall grade. Take it for what it's worth. The top 10 CF right now are Franklin Gutierrez, Michael Bourn, Carlos Beltran, BJ Upton, Shane Victorino, Mike Cameron, Matt Kemp, Carlos Gonzalez, Andrew McCutchen, Colby Rasmus and Carlos Gomez in that order with Rasmus and Gomez tied for 10th.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 11:03 PM) I just got this new laptop 10 months ago. They should upgrade me for free. A lot of companies were offering free upgrades to Windows 7 with purchase of a new PC/laptop over the past several months. I bought a new PC about 2 months back and should be getting my upgrade kit delivered sometime in the next few days, I'm definitely looking forward to that I don't know how much more of Vista I can take.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 04:21 PM) Antichrist opens at the Music Box tomorrow. I think I'll see it this weekend. I actually saw it today. Some disturbing visuals, a whole lot of slow motion, ample psychobabble throughout and copious amounts of ugly sex. Honestly, I don't even know what to think of it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 03:43 PM) It means he has to stay on the 40 man roster. We could send him to Charlotte at the beginning of the season, assuming he has an option, if we keep him on the 40 man. It looks like he still has 2 options left.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 02:05 PM) I understand that the hitting coach is important. I just don't think that the difference between Walker, Jaramillo, or whoever is going to be that great. It just seems to me that with all of the problems that we had running the bases the last few seasons the base running coach, whoever that may be, should come under just as much, if not more scrutiny than the hitting coach. Jeff Cox. He was brought in for this very reason.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 06:25 PM) Unbelievable how many base running mistakes there have been in this postseason. What the hell was Abreu doing. He didn't expect anyone to be covering second. It's funny, Jeter catches a cutoff that's thrown to him, notices Abreu is a quarter of the way to 3B and easily gets him at second, a play that pretty much every shortstop in baseball would have made and he gets a 10 minute blowjob from Tim McCarver because of it meanwhile Tex does something that every 1B should do but only about half actually have the brains to execute and trails on the play, covering 2B on the ball hit in the gap and there's really no mention of it. How many times have you seen a player take a huge turn around 2B on a double but the cutoff man has no play at second because no one is covering? Constantly. The 1B is supposed to follow the runner to 2B since his responsibility at first is over once that runner goes for second but you don't see it nearly often enough. It's a damn good play by Teixeira but you'd never know it from the broadcast.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Oct 15, 2009 -> 04:10 PM) IF I'm looking to deal Hudson, I'm on the phone with the Nats discussing Zimmerman. He still has 2-3 years left under team control, no? 4 years, $41.175M remaining on the deal he signing in April. I know people like to believe that all players on awful teams are fair game but I don't think the Nationals will be open to trading their best player. They should also be able to do better than Dan Hudson as the center piece of the deal if they did decide to move him. I also don't think the Sox are interested in acquiring a 3B, Beckham is your future at the position.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Oct 15, 2009 -> 02:19 PM) If TB wants to go for it next year (and why wouldn't they?), it's possible that they hold on to both. They'll get draft picks when Crawford leaves as a FA. Understood about Hudson. Not trying to put words in your mouth or anything. The only problem is; when you're a team like the Rays you have to get top value for your young talent when they leave your organization, they can trade an outfielder right now and get good near major league ready talent in return and move Jennings (who they fully believe is ready to produce at the major league level) into the new opening. Carl Crawford came in as a Type B player this season thanks to his very poor 2008 and the fact that even when he has a big year by his standards it's still not going to rank up there with the elites at 1B/OF/DH so if he disappoints in 2010 they're looking at 1 sandwich pick as compensation for losing the face of their franchise and a player that they could have dealt a year early for high value. Whatever they'd receive in return for Upton or Crawford would be substantially more valuable than a roll of the dice in the draft.

QUOTE (Socal Cid @ Oct 14, 2009 -> 09:43 PM) The problem I am having is that I view Danks' body of work in his first three years more comparable to Wandy ($2.6M) and Maholm ($2M) as opposed to the front-line starters you submitted: Verlander, Lackey, Kazmir. And Blanton, as unlikely as it sounds, was a workhouse with huge numbers accumulated prior to his fist platform year. As we won't be able to agree, lets agree to let CAA and KW sort it out. Good luck. Just for the record; Maholm got what was essentially $3.5M since it was a $2M base for '09 and an extra $1.5M when he signed the deal. The mid point of the 2 figures that were submitted before the extension was $3.225M.