jeremyb

It's sad 'cause it's true. THG and growth hormone were invented not for Bonds or Sheffield or even Giambi, but for stiffs like Borchard and Crede.

This is why ML scouts, pitching coaches and trainers get the big bucks - to indentify the exact cause of the velocity and control drop-off, and provided it's not injury-related, to come up with ways to fix it. If Cooper and Co. are not BSing us (which they probably are), then see if Loaiza can come to pre-ST showcase fresh, arm strenght built back up and ready to once again sling 93-94 mph fastballs and 89 mph cutters, with sharp command of his slider and change - as he did in '03. Then sign him. Unless, of course something is structurally wrong with his elbow/shouder.....

No, no - don't hold back. I'll ask again: "What talent would that be? His change floats. His slider hangs. His curve bounces. His 92mph four-seamer is straight as arrow. He lives and dies with inducing a DP ball with a good two-seamer that most of the time is a ball anyway" Judy is not fooling the hitters. Judy is not overmatching the hitters. Judy is not improving. I don't want Kenny to trade her because frankly Judy doesn't deserve to be given a fresh start without helping us first, in whatever capacity. That capacity is 5th starter.

Quietely enjoying a semi-breakout season. We know he has the glove and wheels to start in the majors. Decent eye from what I gather. Can someone who's seen him play on regular basis testify as to whether or not he possesses sufficient batspeed or hand-eye coordination to be a good top-of-the-order guy in the bigs? Thanks.

What talent would that be? His change floats. His slider hangs. His curve bounces. His 92mph four-seamer is straight as arrow. He lives and dies with inducing a DP ball with a good two-seamer that most of the time is a ball anyway. If he gets a salary bump in the arbitration, it would be yet another sign of the apocalypse. 5th starters should be happy with 2M per.

Can field a bit too. Or so I hear.

Adrian Belte. Star in the making. Get him.

Oh there is no doubt Drew's 2004 is better than Magglio's 2002. In our super hitter-friendly ballpark, Drew would have an OPS of 1050-1070 this year easily; his biggest offensive stretch came when his team was about to fall out of contention altogether, he put the team on his back until Giles got healthy and Chipper, Andruw and Furcal actually started to earn their salaries. Meanwhile, Magglio's career high OPS is 978, which would be 950 at Turner's Field, and it was accomplished in a year when Sox fell out of it early and never really challenged the superior Twins team. Drew is also a better defensive RF and a faster, smarter baserunner this year than Maggs was in '02. Health is the only reason why Drew never put together a great year before '04. Now that he is healthy, he is on his way to Jim Edmonds/Raphael Palmeiro type career where he is posting much better numbers after the age of 28 (performance peak for an average player) than he did before. Should his health history be ignored? No. But neither should his outstanding talent.

The sooner you realize that Stewart and Grilli are worthless, the better. Looking for silver linings (especiallly where there are none) is what fans of loser teams do well. Diaz, Yofu and Munoz are the ones who should be getting these starts. They have actually earned the promotion based on their semi-dominant AA performance. Yes, I know they are likely to get hammered, but there is also a chance 1 of them can be a decent 5th starter. Grilli and Stewart are hopeless.

Trade Crede and a prospect to Marlins (3-way deal?) for Mota and then go after Beltre as Magglio's replacement. In our park, with Lee and Konerko protecting him, Beltre would put up sick #, with a very good D to boot. That allows you to get rid of Everett and Valentin and not lament over loss of power.

Lithuanians turn the ball over too much, cannot come up with a defensive rebound or make a lay-up to save their lives. They're dead.

It's amazing how Lithuania can shoot so well from the 3-point range but at the same time miss so many free throws and easy lay-ups. 74-71 US after 3. If Lithuania coudl capitalize on easy shots, they'd be leading by 12.

Not true. Sox are notorious for scoring 12 runs off a bad pitcher one day and then score 4 runs combined in the next 2 against decent-to-good pitchers, losing both games. How many times did Garland or Freddy blank the other team until 4th or 5th inning only to receive no run support, and then implode? Sure, Sox would score 2-3 runs in the 9th inning to make it close, but too little too late.

It's not the numbers that matter. It's how they're achieved. So often gaudy mL stats simply do not translate to the bigs. As long as MaCarthy has his pinpoint control, continues to improve on his secondary pitches and adds a bit more velocity as he matures physically....he'll be as good as any prospect in baseball.

I do not believe one stinkin' word that comes from this organization. Not one.

"A bit better"? I'd say Davis has been lighting the world on fire in the last month or so. 950 OPS with solid defense in that span. I think Jaime Burke is a better choice against LHP. Olivo is more talented, but he still can't hit RHP, commits too many blunders defensively and runs into way too many outs. I'd love to have him back, but you can't have everything. I agree, it was a good trade for both teams.

330 OBP, 400 Slug from a part-time 1B is far from outstanding. In fact, his production versus lefties is a fluke based on his minor league numbers; his lousy splits against righties tell the real story. Of course, he does have that short-quick swing and deceptive opposite field power, so if his pitch selection ever improves, he could potentially break-out Aaron Rowand-style. Runs very well for a 1B, but shouldn't attempt to steal. OF is not for him, either.

It should have never gotten to that point. If Argentina continued to take care of the ball and execute mid-way through the 3rd Q. like they had been up to until point, they would have won 95-75. They let the US back into the game. Hermann? If that had happened to me, I'd be somewhere in a mental institution, not the basketball world's biggest arena.

Never happen? How about MJ, Magic, Bird, Hakim, Ewing, Stockton, Robinson, Mullen, Malone, Thomas and Co? Utterly unbeatable. Cheat, Zero tone it down with the racism ok.

This team just flat-out gave away a frightening amount of games in the last month alone, and yet with a win today, they would have moved to within 6 games of 1st in the loss column. With 37 to go, including 6 left with the Twins. So let's say Sox finish 3 games behind the Twins. Would it be ok to lay huge amount of blame on Ozzie for his myriad tactical errors or his inability to motivate his way out of a paperbag following the Collision? Likewise, I like to think there's a special room in hell for JR who couldn't be bothered to spend on a decent 5th starter the last 2 years, nor shell out for a difference-maker like Larry Walker or Richard Hidalgo as soon as Magglio and Frank were shelved - and the team still in 1st place!

JD Drew is arguably better this year than Magglio has ever been. Better hitter. Better fielder. Better baserunner. Actually came through when his team needed him the most, as opposed to having his career year when his team is 15 games out of first, wink-wink. If Drew was playing half his games in USCF, he'd be a 1050+ OPS hitter. He's also 2 years younger than Maggs and appears to have just entered his prime, a late bloomer in the Jim Edmonds mold. If Beltran is looking for 16-18 Mill a year, Boras will ask at least 13-14 for Drew. Out of our price range given his health history.

Argentina flat-out choked mid-way through the 3rd Q - had a 16 point lead and then just started to give the ball away left and right, missing free throws, open short-range jumpers and easy lay-ups..... They were lucky Duncan fouled out in the 4th. This game should have been a 20+ point blow-out. Instead the NBA losers almost pulled it out.

Freddy is Freddy because his fastball could hit 96 and he has filthy slider-curve combo that most pitchers do not have because they don't generate the necessary armspeed and power. His last 2 starts, the fastball was topping out at 91-92 and curveball was rolling, less bite on slider too. Control erratic. It was obvious that something was not right. I am starting to worry about Contreras too.

I hear this standard answer all the time and it makes no sense to me. The so-called "core" of Buerhle-Thomas-Ordonez-Lee-Konerko-Valentin-Marte-Garland-Crede is not and never was to blame for Twins sticking it up our behinds repeatedly over the last 3 years. Reasons Sox lost: Ritchie-for-Wells. Koch-for-Foulke. White-for-Osuna. Politte-for-Gordon. Timo-for-Everett. Thomas still injured in '02. Thomas injured in '04. Magglio injured in '04. Loaiza injured in '04. No 3rd starter in '02. No 4th starter in '02. No 5th starter in '02. No 5th starter in '03. No 5th starter in '04. No true lead-off hitter in '03 No true lead-off hitter in '04 Too much (bad) bunting. Too many CS. Two clueless managers in '02-'04. Get Pavano, get Mota and Pierre/Hairston/Polanco.....and the team will crush Minnesota next year.

Spidale, Yofu, Bajenaru, Wunsch, Munoz, Valdez. Wouldn't mind seeing them.