Kalapse

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 25, 2007 -> 12:23 PM) I don't think he's going to put up great numbers, but if Levine is correct and they are paying him $750,000 for 2007, if he's as bad as you think he is, it won't hurt KW to release him. On the other hand, at that price, he will most likely bring you at least as much as Timo Perez did in 2005. What the move does is more than likely keeps Sweeney from rotting on the bench in Chicago, while getting him some more baseball experience in Charlotte, and really doesn't do anything to hurt the White Sox budget-wise. Like I said earlier in the thread, if Erstad blows/gets seriously injured and is released/placed on the DL it will hurt the team big time. Erstad right now is being counted on to fill a role that was severely lacking last year and was one of the top 3 reasons why that team didn't make the playoffs, 4th OF. If Erstad is incompacitated for one reason or another this team becomes a whole lot weaker and a giant hole is created on the roster, a hole that this team for whatever reason doesn't really see as a priority to fill.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Jan 25, 2007 -> 10:50 AM) This seems to be another low risk move by KW. He can play 1B as well, so this is a nice filler for Gload. Erstad's numbers in 2000 were pretty solid: 25 HR, 100 RBI, 28 SB, .355 BA, .409 OBP, .541 SLG, .951 OPS Since then he has never hit more than 10 HRs, batted over .295, and his OPS has never touched .750 again. That one year stands out pretty big. I believe that's what they in the business call a statistical anomaly. Seeing as how it happened 6 years ago and he's come nowhere near any of those numbers again in fact he was never really close to those numbers before '00. That hasn't stopped Erstad from living off that one great offensive season.

Why Gage and Mario on Soxtalk on the Air of course.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jan 24, 2007 -> 08:08 PM) i don't see how signing another OFer suddenly made us a worse outfield than before. Why the cries now? It's been this way for a year and a half. *not actually a half a season, i was thinking half a year as in this offseason. Because now it appears Scott Podsednik could be out for awhile or be even worse than he was before when/if he returns and while he's out Darin Erstad is actually worse offensively than Pods.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 24, 2007 -> 01:27 PM) I would add the A's to the list. Well Kotsay rebounded nicely at the end of last season and Milton Bradley is an above average hitter and if one of them went down they could always move Swisher back to the OF actually making the overall hitting of the OF improve. Anderson and Erstad have the potential to be 2 of the worst starting OF in baseball offensively next season while Dye is great. I'd say right now it's a puch between the Sox and A's and if you take away the best hitter and add the replacement the A's OF is better. It's a ridiculous premise but I'll follow it anyway.

QUOTE(WHITESOXRANDY @ Jan 24, 2007 -> 01:01 PM) What happens if Dye gets injured ? We have Erstad in LF, Anderson in CF and Sweeney in RF. That would have to be the worst outfield in baseball. Well as of right now the Nationals have a worse OF than the Sox and if Kearns gets hurt then they'll be MUCH worse. The Giants have a worse OF right now as well and if Bonds isn't re-signed or gets hurt then they'll be Much worse. I'm sure there's a few more but those 2 were the first to come to mind.

2006 was a bad year for me fantasy baseball wise. So bad. I don't think I finished better than 3rd in any league I participated in.

I was negative 1 years old when the Bears last won the Super Bowl but even so the '05 World Series will probably be the greatest sports moment of my lifetime. I love football and all and i especially love the Bears but nothing tops the White Sox in my book. Plus that '05 World Series felt like a special event created only for a select group of people simply because of how little coverage the Sox get nation wide and how they're overshadowed locally by the Cubs. This Superbowl feels a whole lot more wide spread than that.

QUOTE(SuperSteve @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 11:19 PM) Your just being difficult. BA should watch how Ozzie gets ready for a game?! Goes about stuff game day, its not like Erstad was a defensive OF... its different. And never say never.. He could always watch Jermaine Dye if he's in dire need of a mentor. As for never say never, starting Erstad at DH would be like starting Timo Perez at DH, sure he could hit .340 but seeing as how he's a bad hitter and all it's probably not a going to happen. There's a reason why they call it designated hitter, it's a position designated for a player who's good at hitting.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 11:03 PM) When healthy, they are both allstar caliber major league outfielders, albeit with a different skill set. I'd say it's a very similar signing. Erstad had one good season offensively, 1. He is not All-Star caliber as a matter of fact he was an All-Star caliber player for 2 seasons of his career (98 is debatable) and the last season was 7 years ago. He has no power, doesn't drive in runs and can't really run anymore so I'm wondering what exactly makes him All-Star caliber?

QUOTE(SuperSteve @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 11:03 PM) What if he's hitting .340 when he DH's? The probability of that happening is basically zero so I don't have much use for the hypothetical question. The guy is not the type of hitter you want DHing for him mainly because he doesn't hit well. QUOTE(SuperSteve @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 11:12 PM) With this signing, I think it more than just to play. He is a veteran who could help Brin Anderson. Who would you rather have him learning from, Pods or Erstad? The coaching staff.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 10:48 PM) This thread reminds me of the last time the Sox signed a veteran, free agent, injury prone outfielder. There was a lot of moaning about that one too. But, I think Jermaine Dye worked out ok. I don't see much of a connection at all. The talent levels aren't even close. Just because Erstad is old and injury prone doesn't mean he's similar at all to Dye nor is his situation similar.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 10:31 PM) I lied. This is my second to last post in the thread. How many more times has Erstad been on the DL in his career? How many more season ending injuries has Erstad had than Mackowiak? When was the last time Erstad played CF without getting hurt? I think I know the answer to the last one. It's 2002, which means 5.YEARS.AGO. By the previous logic (ie: citing GG that were won 5 years ago as evidence to a players capabilities defensively) Jim Edmonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Shawn Green and Steve Finley are all currently above average defenders. One more thing, if Darin Erstad starts a single game at DH next season then this was a terrible signing.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 10:12 PM) on defense it doesn't seem like it, but I do that's because of his groin. I noticed before his groin injury in 2005, even though he got bad reads, he hustled hard towards the ball and hustled when on the bases. Now he runs like he has something stuck up his arse, especially defensively. Then he should not have been playing.

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 09:39 PM) I personally really like the signing with the obvious caveat that I hate it if Oz uses him as anything other than a 4th outfielder. But really, anyone b****ing that a) he's injury-prone and he's going to get hurt, and B) he sucks, shouldn't be too concerned with this signing. Y'all are running on the presumption of injury in the first week of regular playing time, so I guess his suckitude won't be hurting us too much, right? Actually it could really hurt the team because there wouldn't be a legit 4th OF on the roster. So yes there is a good amount of risk in this move since the Sox put off finding a 4th OF until now and the guy they're banking on is oft-injured, if he goes down the Sox will be in the same spot they were last year regarding the backup CF situation.

QUOTE(TheOcho @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 09:18 PM) But Erstad isn't expected to be our starting leadoff left fielder. Actually that might be one of the reasons why they signed him.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 04:42 PM) The point is that he'd never face lefties. Iguchi, Konerko, Dye, Crede and Hall are pretty good against lefties I hear. Pure rumor though. You heard wrong because Iguchi was pretty brutal vs lefties last season.

QUOTE(G&T @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 03:33 PM) And that Pods is having groin surgery. Which just solidifies that Erstad will be starting somewhere in the OF by mid April.

Well Joe Cowley says it's a done deal pending a physical.

Cintron also played for Puerto Rico, not that it matters.

QUOTE(Allsox @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 10:18 AM) Couldn't agree more. He's a better option in CF than Mack is and you hafta have a decent glove for first if Paulie gets hurt or needs a day off. And you figure Sweeney's going to be the starting LF or RF in '08 for either Pods or Dye so get him some playing time than rotting away on the bench in '07. Why? Konerko has sat an average of 7 games over the past 3 seasons, having someone on the roster who will be used to fill that spot for 7 games out of a 162 game schedule is about as insignificant as it gets. For 4-10 games next year Mackowiak could fit in just fine at 1B during any days off that Konerko may need. If Erstad is capable of playing a passable CF for next season (which I really don't think he can) then I suppose he's not the absolute worst option, close but not quite it'll be like having Timo back again. Of course when he does go down with an injury or shows ineptitude in the OF it's going to really suck going another season without a legit 4th OF.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 02:12 AM) Ehh, a bat would better as a backup 1Bman rather than an injury prone defensive minded 1Bman. And besides that, Carlos Pena - who is still available - is not only great defensively, but has a good propensity to get on base and hit for power. That would be a great signing if you are to get a defensive minded backup 1Bman. I'd like Eduardo Perez too, but sometimes it's too much to ask for crums of cake. Oh oh oh Eduardo Perez please. If the Sox are going to go after a Gload replacement which at this point in his career Erstad would have to be Eduardo Perez is such a perfect fit 153 ABs last year vs lefties he hit 9 HR with a .273/.331/.503/.834 line in '05 he had 135 ABs with 10 HRs and a .259/.371/.526/.897 line vs the southpaws. So the Sox would get similar production out of that slot in the order vs lefties as they did last year but Big Jim would be able to rest on those days. Right now Pena is only looking at minor league offers from the O's and Giants if the Sox really wanted to they could easily slide in there in sign him to a nothing contract. He may not be a very consistent major league player but there's 2 things he does know how to do, play a great 1B and hit for power. Of course I think it would be pretty stupid to be looking at backup 1B at this point seeing as how the team still doesn't have a 4th OF but if the KW and Oz really want a guy who can play 1B off the bench both Pena and Perez are better fits since Erstad certainly isn't the answer to the 4th OF hole.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 11:33 PM) this is my thought. Maybe he is to play a greater role at first base then what we are thinking of at CF You see if Erstad is to be that power hitting righty off the bench that spells Thome against 'dem tough lefties there's really only 2 problems Erstad is a lefty and has no power.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 10:54 PM) There you go again, trying to rename everything for Reagan. Weren't they Reagan/JFK in the past? Perhaps, ah, it'd be better to rename them for a different Conservative/Liberal. It was Rush Limbaugh and JFK before. One other category that's missing is "Minor League Corespondent"

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 09:43 PM) It's really not, Kalapse is just f***ed up. Exactly, that's why I added "in my mind". I'm the weirdo who you see wearing the Mackowiak or Maynard jersey, I just don't see the point in wearing a jersey that every other person at the game is wearing and besides my favorite players are often unpopular or overlooked by the general fanbase.