Kalapse

QUOTE (BaseballNick @ Dec 6, 2008 -> 01:13 PM) Bobby Crosby and Khalil Greene are underwhelming major league shortstops. Orlando Cabrera is not. No Bobby Crosby is a disappointment who could never stay healthy or prove that he can hit major league pitching and Khalil Greene is a defensive whiz with incredible power potential/production (when he's away from Petco). I think "underwhelming" suits Cabrera perfectly, you watch him play enough and soon you realize that he really does nothing all that well (aside from durability) and yet there are people here who would love to have him back at $11M which I just find absurd.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 6, 2008 -> 01:07 PM) I would have to argue with Kalapse and say that OC is not an "underwhelming" SS. He is a great defensive player and can hit. However, I don't think he is a good fit personalitywise on the Sox. If we bring him back where does all the moving around of Ramirez to SS and a new 2Bman? We will see 3/4th on our infield basically changing with OC gone and if he stays the only position different will be 3B. I would rather see the draft picks come our way. He's a good defensive SS, calling him great is a slap to the face of the real great shortstops like Omar Vizquel back when he could run. Orlando can hit a little but not very well and with incredible inconsistency (would it kill him to have 5 or 6 "good" months rather than 3 horrible, 2 great and 1 good?). I know he just barely outperformed some of his career averages (his SLG% was 28 points below his career norm while playing in a hitters) but that's mostly because his career averages kind of suck, he's been a pretty bad hitter for most of his career. Assuming Alexei can play some decent defense at short (which he supposedly can) I wouldn't be shocked to see Chris Getz put up equal offensive output to Orlando Cabrera. Achieving a .700 OPS isn't all that hard.

There is absolutely no difference between Tony Gwynn Jr. and the average light hitting speedster with questionable fielding ability that you can sign off the street, aside from his pedigree I suppose.

If Orlando Cabrera accepts arbitration he'll be making close to twice what he's worth in 2009, that bothers me and doesn't really help the club and their apparent budget constraints. Also, until someone says otherwise, I believe the Sox would not be allowed to trade Cabrera until June 16th, 2009 unless he gives his written consent to the trade. So Orlando Cabrera, an underwhelming major league shortstop who may not be well liked in the Sox clubhouse would be making ~$11M dollars with a full no trade clause. This is unacceptable. So in conclusion: lets pray he declines.

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Dec 5, 2008 -> 06:03 PM) So is the deadline for a player to accept 12:00AM Monday morning? 11:00pm CT Sunday night.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 5, 2008 -> 05:55 PM) Yes, if you offer a player arbitration, and he accepts, his salary can be no less than 80% of what he made the year before. If it reaches that phase, the player will submit a salary number, the team will submit a salary number, there will be an argument phase where the team says how much the player (i.e. Ryan Howard) sucks and then the player points out that he doesn't suck, and the arbiter chooses 1 bid or the other, weighing his previous salary, salaries of comparable players, and performance. And 70% of what he made 2 seasons prior. So if OCab made $10M in 2007 but only $8M in 2008 the Sox could offer him no less than $7M even though 80% of his 2008 salary is $6.4M.

Just show old classic games. All I ask for is a little mid 90's Mariners action, I don't think that's too much to ask. There's been no outlet for classic baseball games, ESPN Classic is probably the most worthless channel on TV unless of course you like watching the same poker matches and bowling tournaments over and over.

QUOTE (bschmaranz @ Dec 5, 2008 -> 01:28 PM) Even he essentially said that. He's glad to be moving to the AL where there's a DH. Which may enable him to get to the bigs a year or so faster than if he were in the NL and could only play catcher or 1B. 3 ways to reach the bigs is better than 2, that's the way I took those comments. Not to mention the fact that with his old team he was blocked by the 2nd best young catcher in the game and Casey Kotchman. That's a rough path to the majors right there.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Dec 5, 2008 -> 10:14 AM) You mean Erik Bedard? As a 5th starter? Drinking early aren't you? With health, Erik Bedard would be the ace of our staff, the guy has MASTERFUL stuff. Trouble is he can't stay healthy. I can't believe you meant Bedard as 5th starter. Regarding Cabrera, this is absolutely a KW type player...lots of potential, great arm, good stuff, and probably falling out of favor with the Orioles due to the fact he simply hasn't reached his potential yet. For a kid with the stuff D-Cab has I'd take a shot at this guy, especially if he comes cheap. There's a small chance that Erik Bedard is just non-tendered next Friday, I don't think it's going to happen but some people seem to think it will. If he is non-tendered and the Sox pick him up, given his track record for kind of being a pussy, only posting 1 GREAT year, frequently hitting the DL and coming off shoulder surgery I wouldn't pencil him in for much more than the 5th starter spot. If he pitched to his potential and somehow stayed healthy enough to make 32+ starts then yeah, he's probably going to be one of the best pitchers on the staff but the odds of that happening are look rather poor at this point.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 5, 2008 -> 09:05 AM) That is really weird. Stewart is a free agent and so is Miller, so I guess its possible the Sox went and signed them both and didn't tell anyone yet. But that would be bizarre to sign them both. I could see signing one, as in Stewart, but... Corky Miller? And why would he say this in a press conference, when neither players' names have been announced as part of the org? Furthermore, doesn't this hurt Armstrong's trade value, since you are all but announcing that Armstrong won't be on the major league club? This also would seem to indicate they have little or no confidence in the ability of Donny Lucy to come back healthy from his injury. Just bizarre. The signing of Corky Miller by the White Sox was actually announced a few weeks ago, there's a thread for it in PHT.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...me=stark_jayson Talk about making something out of nothing. This is all that was in his column, it doesn't include any names or even say the 2 sides are discussing a deal, just that there are "indication" that the Sox have "gotten involved." God knows what that means. This is why the original source should be quoted and linked, the title is pure speculation from a fantasy baseball website and even then the only name they include is Cole Armstrong, they don't even speculate that Fields would be involved.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 07:51 PM) he's also been pitching in the powerhouse that is the NL Central for years too. Oswalt scares the hell out of me and I want really nothing to do with him. Halladay is an entirely different story and he'd be quite a haul. Of the starters with at least 150 IP in the NL last year Roy Oswalt was among the top 45% in Quality of Opponent (OPS), top 35% in '07, #6 out of 52 in 2005, #10 out of 47 in '04 and #20 out of 65 in '03 (120 IP).

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 07:44 PM) They're just STRIPPERS!!!! Look at how hot they are!! OH MY GOD THIS GUYS ARM JUST.... fell off. ...and that's why you don't teach your son a lesson. [nods head in agreement] That's the goods right there. That's the exact scene I had in mind.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 07:58 PM) *Sox trade Dye for Edwin Jackson *Sox sign Adam Dunn *I agree on the McClouth deal. Poreda, Anderson, and Broadway gets dealt. McClouth CF Ramirez SS Quentin RF Thome DH Dunn LF Konerko 1B Pierzynski C Fields 3b Getz 2b Rotation: Buerhle, Floyd, Danks, Jackson, Richard/Marquez Shibby!! Worst team defense the Sox have ever had? Has to be the worst in baseball, easy.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 07:46 PM) Oswalt scares me. That ERA has been rising the last 4 years, and that HR total made a pretty big jump last year. Still a solid pitcher, but probably not the best investment, given the cost. A fluctuation of .20 in ERA over a 3 year span isn't really a trend, I'd call it consistency. Last year his K/9 was the highest it had been since 2004, his WHIP was the 2nd lowest he's posted in a 30+ start season, the velocity on his fastball was the same as it's been since '06 (~92.7 MPH), he was actually inducing a good amount of groundballs (2nd highest GB% of his career) and yet his HR/FB was by far the highest of his career last season (more than 2/3 of the 23 HR he gave up last season came at home). He also had a 32 2/3 innings scoreless streak going at the end of the season which included back to back complete game shutouts, 1 of which took place in Denver and a 8 1/3 scoreless performance at Wrigley. So he definitely showed some incredible dominance. I don't see anything in the numbers that indicates he's starting to lose it. If the price weren't too obscene I'd probably invest in him. He's a hell of a workhorse.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 07:36 PM) You think KW can actually negotiate a deal with Boras? It's bound to happen sometime. Well according to the Boston Globe a "baseball source" says Lowe has already received at least 2 contract offers; 1 from the Phillies and another from a mystery team that is not the Red Sox or Yankees. Could be the Mets, could be the Sox, could be anyone I suppose.

Abreu doesn't even steal bases via speed anymore, at his point in his career it's about 90% savvy. He's an excellent base runner but he's not particularly fast.

I'm tempted to say Vizquel/Eckstein/Punto.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 05:54 PM) 3 seasons 2 1/2

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 05:52 PM) Think you were dissapointed that the show was cancelled after two seasons? Try being a Firefly fan. How about this: I was a huge fan of both. Firefly is one of the coolest and most well written shows ever made. Good luck finding another show that lasted just 1 season with richer characters than Firefly.

QUOTE (R.J. @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 05:56 PM) The process would repeat next year. And since he will have accepted arbitration the year before the Sox probably wouldn't even think of offering again so he'd just walk and the Sox would get nothing in return.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 05:57 PM) BTW, did I miss the Sox re-signing former catcher Chris Stewart? In the conference call today, Williams said if the season started today, the backup catcher would be either Chris Stewart or Corky Miller. http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....ams-on-tra.html Did he mean Armstrong? And apparently the Sox want Viciedo to drop 10 pounds.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 05:57 PM) I'm drooling. If he plays LF, sure.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 01:55 PM) I found it to be fairly disappointing. Overall a very predictable movie that dragged on. Jane Lynch stole the show. The last half hour or so was a complete joke, talk about dragging I thought it would never end. The actor who played Augie (McLovin) was just awful, not funny at all.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 03:34 PM) this certainly doesn't belong in this thread but your avatar is why i am posting it...I had never seen arrested development before and i started DVRing it on G4 about 2 weeks ago because some people i know said it was really really funny...G4 ran a marathon of the entire first season on thanksgiving and i spent just about 5 straight hours glued to the TV watching...holy christ i can't believe 5 years after the fact i am just now watching it, but damn is it freaking hilairous Best TV show I've ever seen. I've probably watched each episode at least 5 times and I still laugh uncontrollably each time I see them, it has incredible replay value. Sometimes I find myself jonesing for a specific episode, usually "Pier Pressure." The Hot Cops are about as good as it gets.