thedoctor

i was actually pretty confident danks would be good this year. strangely enough i felt more confident in him than anyone else on the staff. there was just something about the way he carries himself and the fact that typically he's had good success in his second run at a new level. i was wrong on floyd, though. i thought he'd flame out and be out of the organization by the end of the year. although he has had some struggles, he's been far and away better than i thought he'd be.

d'backs did need a bat.

QUOTE (tommy @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 02:40 AM) LOL at the post. Man they are some rough fans. i liked this from FelixMantilla: sound familiar?

for the right price i'd have no problem bringing uribe back next year. $4.5 million is not the right price, but who knows what he commands on the open market. either way, i've gained a lot of respect for uribe this year. he's taken his demotion in stride and when he's been called on to fill in at second or third (positions he hasn't played regularly since he's been with the sox) he's played strong and sometimes spectacular defense. at the plate, he is what he is, but there is a lot of value in a guy who can play starter-level defense at three infield positions.

baseball is something i really wish i got to play on a more regular bases than i do now. i played throughout little league, mostly second base, shortstop, and centerfield. but by the time i got to high school i was more focused on wrestling and trying to earn a scholarship, so i never played at that level. i'd say not playing in high school is one of my life's regrets. through college i was really involved in training so i still didn't play. plus, getting the guys together to play a game were always difficult. but after graduation i moved home and a big group of our friends started playing. we'd never have enough for a full nine on nine game, but we'd manage. guys would get together at this field in merrionette park and we'd play with right field being out, pitcher's hand, or whatever adjustment we needed to accommodate the amount of guys we had available. i ended up moving out of the chicago area but the guys i played with kept up. the summer after i left they got a group of about 12 of our most regular players together and formed a team for a fall league. the team was terrible, but guys had a good time. this kept up for a summer and the team joined again the following summer. that year a buddy of mine who was a pretty good high school pitcher broke his humerus trying to throw a curveball. it was an ugly scene and pretty much spelled the end for the team. for my part, i haven't played the game in awhile. i played some 12-inch softball for a few years, but once my daughter was born and my career got accelerated it got harder to find the time. but i no doubt miss it a lot. i would love to play. there's just something about running down a deep fly ball or that feeling when you really connect on a pitch.

so, konerko's heating up apparently. could it be that the griffey trade was kw's elaborate plot to motivate paul konerko? genius.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 6, 2008 -> 08:09 PM) As far as I can tell, right now, we're in the middle of a rebuilding year. We've got 2 2nd year pitchers in our rotation, a 1st year 2nd baseman, a quasi-rookie 3rd baseman up even though he's splitting time with people, a LF in his first full season, and a "CF/1b" who's signed for several more years that we gave up a handful of prospects for. Couple of disappointments tossed in there, but after winning 72 last season, we rebuild enough on the fly to be in the pennant chase again this year. i'd agree with that. i'd refer more to the mythical "rebuilding process" that some want to see. if there is a tear it all down, build it up decision made that will span a few seasons, it will happen under another gm.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Aug 6, 2008 -> 06:48 PM) To ptatc and thedoctor, agree to disagree. I am more a believer that, with the age of our players and lack of depth in our farm system, we should look to rebuild if we don't find the promised land again this year. I felt this way last year, and so far it seems like I was definitely wrong. But, the team is definitely getting older and I don't see that solving itself. Sooner or later it will probably have to be done, and that might just be my own opinion. And again, let me clarify that I'm not talking about a total rebuild, but more of sacrificing a couple of years to dump the older players, replace them with younger guys that may need some time to adjust, and keep the young guys we already have (Buehrle, Jenks, Quentin, Ramirez, Swisher, etc.). i hear what you're saying, and there is some truth to letting the roster change and move into something else. at the same time, i think some of that will happen naturally. as mentioned earlier in the thread there is a potential that a significant chunk of payroll comes off the books after this year, particularly if thome's option isn't picked up. next year you can potentially have dye, contreras, and a few others come off the books (i think). where does that money go? i think you can make some deals and spend wisely and keep the team competitive. my fear of going into total rebuilding mode is that attendance suffers, payroll drops, and that is going to be damn hard to recapture. consider that from 2005 until now the sox are averaging almost 10,000 more fans per game than they did in the four years prior to 2005. the sox need to win to draw and they need to draw to maintain the payroll they'll need to keep guys like alexei, quentin, danks, and floyd.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 6, 2008 -> 07:30 PM) I'm perfectly content with Uribe until Crede comes back. Uribe is a f***ing stud defensively and right now I take great pleasure in having at least one player on the team that can catch the f***ing ball. f***ing a right.

QUOTE (Disco72 @ Aug 4, 2008 -> 12:40 AM) I'd disagree that rebuilding is 'due,' especially for a team in first place for 100-some games, and a half game out of first after some of the worst stretches of the season. In addition, the team has some good young talent, but it's a mixed bag with Alexei playing great and Swish playing like crap, for example. Finally, I am not sure Kenny is able to rebuild - I don't think it is in his DNA. i think you can be fairly certain that if there is a rebuilding process kenny is not going to be a part of it.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Aug 6, 2008 -> 03:20 AM) Yes, we can deal with having a couple bad seasons to replace the old guys. Not a total rebuild from the ground up, but sacrifice a few seasons for the bigger gain. considering we have a first-place team and people are constantly pissing and moaning about our flaws i have a hard time envisioning a scenario where fans in general just sit happily by as we run a crap team of youngsters out to the field every day. the idea of tearing down and rebuilding sounds great. but what are the guarantees in that? in the mid to late 90s the white sox had one of the best farm systems in all of baseball. what did it ever allow the big club to accomplish? personally i'm going to enjoy watching my favorite team in a pennant race rather than pining for a day when they're selling me hope again.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 6, 2008 -> 02:30 PM) Rodney was far from bad last night. he was filthy. hopefully the three innings of work will keep him in the pen for a night or two.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Aug 6, 2008 -> 05:08 AM) HHAHAH looking at that gamethread. last night reminded me while i generally avoid gamethreads. i can understand negativity when the team is playing poorly but some of the crap early in that thread is downright absurd.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 5, 2008 -> 04:54 PM) You can't teach that type of raw power, so he will have value. Not the value to get an SP, but something will come back our way. Other teams might think that a change of venue, a different message might help him make better contact. How many physically talented pitchers have we fixed up to rehab here. Now the key is, to move the asset before he burns all of his value like Mr. Borchard. i can buy that. i don't doubt at all that fields has some value. i just guess i wonder if we overvalue him sometimes because he's the top prospect in a deficient minor-league system. i mean, few publications even rank fields as a top-100 overall prospect. then factor in his struggles both offensively and defensively at the big-league level and i wonder if he's as good as we think he is in terms of overall trade value. at the same time, although he's struggled in limited time this year, his successes last year probably bump his value up a bit. i guess in general i just have a hard time coming to a conclusion about whether fields is a valuable prospect or not as it relates to trade return.

does anyone really think that fields is going to be the key to a deal that gets us a good starting pitcher? if sox fans are aware he's been sucky and hasn't solved the hole in his swing, i'd imagine other gms are aware as well.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 06:46 PM) WTF!? i still can't find it on sosh or any boston boards.

espn 890 in boston is reporting the red sox have offered manny for griffey. looking for independent confirmation of this but at this point i've only seen it on some other boards.

the deal makes no sense to me but i'm excited nonetheless.

QUOTE (LosMediasBlancas @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 07:25 AM) Maybe you guys that see him play every game haven't noticed, but has Paulie gotten slimmer and slimmer since 2005? Am I nuts? in one of his recent mailbags gonzalez mentioned that paulie's lost a lot of weight. edit: it was actually on the radio with coppock this past saturday morning.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 06:54 PM) Paulie is going to get every chance in the world to snap out of his funk. The sox probably can't make the playoffs w/o Paulie carrying his weight offensively [as guys like Dye, AJ, Quentin, and Alexei will probably see their numbers drop]. Unless these guys keep up their hitting, and Joe, Swisher, and Thome get hot, the sox will need PK's bat. They certainly need a less intense PK, w/o all the bat throwing, and yelling at himself. I don't think PK will sit for long if at all. I could see him getting an extra day off at least 1, 2 times a week though, if he's still struggling. i think this is part of the problem. dude is wound waaaaaaay too tight right now.

jayson stark says... espn insider

QUOTE (Texsox @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 03:47 PM) I think it is still a little early to believe Konerko's career is almost over, or that he will drop off that steeply. I believe some rest will work wonders. i do agree that i don't believe yet that he is just done. people said at the beginning of the year that his hand injury is one that would linger all season long. maybe that's a factor, maybe not. plus, paulie is wound pretty tight. he's a work-harder, try-harder kind of guy when things aren't going well. that can work against you in baseball so maybe it is good for him to get away and step away for a bit.

in.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 09:02 PM) Because it is extremely unlikely that they would be prosecuting this if it was not Jamar Smith and he was not a recognizable face (based on the facts as stated in the report). If this is the full report, I'm kind of in the same boat I was after the DUI. I could see kicking him off the team and I could see letting him stay. I just know Jamar has a lot of issues and I am going to have a hard time really rooting for him. There doesn't appear to be any real cut and dry decision based on the allegations. i agree. my question regarding pressing charges was more rhetorical.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 09:40 PM) Jamar clearly was stupid to return when the police told him to leave, although if it was outside FUBAR there are apartments above the bar so he may have been trying to get in there (unlikely but possible). However no matter the circumstances, if that is all there is then the state has an incredibly weak case and that they are even pursuing this reeks of politics. Just to clarify my position, I don't doubt that Jamar was drinking but the evidence based on that report was pretty weak. Which puts the university in a bind because do you kick Jamar off the team for allegedly doing something the state might not be able to prove. I'm guessing there are still more facts to come out though. all i can say is i thought there'd be more than that for a $25K bond to be issued. if they suspected smith of drinking (i don't doubt he was) why not pinch him for public intox or obstruction of justice or something?