BlackBetsy

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 01:02 PM) I really like the idea of Brian Giles as a DH/utility OF. In our park he could be an absolute beast again. If not for Petco Park, he'd probably be getting a much bigger payday this offseason. My only concern is that he is already 34, meaning I'd be cautious if signing him for more than 3 years. Zoom, I agree 100%, I think Giles is the best player available on the market. (1) He's a lefty bat, and gets on base like a fiend and hits for power, even at Petco. (2) He probably can be had for a reasonable price; (3) He is the type of player that ages well; his PECOTA comps are guys like Sheffield, Yaz, Edgar Martinez, Darrell Evans, and Brian Downing who all maintained high levels of productivity well into their late 30's. I'd be willing to give Giles 4 years (through his age 38 season) at $40-$44 million, especially if it's structure so that the first two years are higher than the back end, e.g., $12, $11, $9, $8, allowing the Sox to get out of it in the last few years easier if he stops being productive. Like I've said before, it's going to be a trick to get him out of Southern California. I think the Dodgers will make a run at him and get him. I think if the Red Sox lose Damon, they will be making a run at him as well - his OBP is just too good and the Red Sox have fallen in love with lefties over the last 3 years. If the Sox got Giles, I would be extremely psyched.

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 11:42 AM) Damon, I could see, but the Yankees will end up at 250 million unless they trade some of those big contracts and eat a LOT of money on them too. Isn't AJ Burnett also rumored to be a Yankee target? I think $250 million is not a problem for the Yankees. Steinbrenner's blood continues to boil and the Yankees have gone FIVE WHOLE SEASONS without winning it all. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, Kevin Brown's $15 million comes off of the Yankees' payroll next year. So does Matsui's $8 million, and Bernie Williams' $11 million. They were also paying Steve Karsay (!) $6 million this season for not pitching, which also comes off their payroll, and Mike Stanton was being paid $4 million. The Yankees were throwing away much more than other teams were spending. Even if they re-sign Matsui (say $8 million again), they have $36 million to spend without lowering their payroll. Yikes. They could sign Damon to play CF at $10 m per, AJ Burnett at $10 m per, and Konerko at $10 m per and actually lower their payroll. Double Yikes. I expect the Boss to be spending like a drunken sailor this offseason, and that good old Paulie will be in his crosshairs.

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 11:30 AM) I think at this rate, Young will be the CF'er in 2007. However, nothing says Anderson can't play CF full-time now and move to RF in 2007 when Dye's contract is up... I think we agree on Young being the CF in '07. His improvement/learning curve at B'ham - increasing his walks & power and cutting his K's as the season went on - was really awesome. However, I'm not sure that Anderson will ever produce enough to be a corner OF. Rowand certainly does NOT produce enough to be a RF (although his 2004 stats were worthy of a corner OF spot). If Anderson does produce enough to be a corner OF, that's great, but I think he's a 15-20 homer guy, not a 25-30 homer guy. He hit 16 in 450 at bats at Charlotte, so I think 20 is probably a good expectation. Unless that comes with 50 doubles per year, it's not enough. Those 115 K's worry me, too. I just think that Rowand might have a greater value if you trade him after '06 than if you trade him after his subpar '05. He's not that expensive in '06 anyway. You also always have the option of trading Rowand mid-'06 if Anderson comes on strong in the 4th outfielder role, a la Austin Kearns.

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 11:07 AM) You can trade El Duque, Marte, Uribe and probably Rowand in any of those deals as well... Who is going to overpay for Rowand and give the Sox value? That's an interesting concept. I'd actually trade Rowand after 2006 for a couple of reasons: (1) Give Anderson 200 at bats as a 4th outfielder - let him show a little more of his stuff; (2) I think Rowand bounces back from 2005 to put up a .840 OPS season (i.e., worse than 2004, but better than 2005) in 2006, and will greatly increase his value. I also think that Chris Young might be the guy to replace Rowand anyway.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 09:40 AM) I don't know if we'll get to see him again outside of garbage time, but I thought that the guy deserved a thread for this season. A backup catcher who did what we needed. I mean, seriously, who doesn't like the Widge? I could see him getting a start against Washburn in Game 2. Widge was 4 for 8 against the Angels with a dinger this year. In related news, Pierzynski was 1 for 26 against the Angels this year. That's not so good.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 12:48 AM) And I think Byrd is on full rest but he sucks anyways... not saying it is a guarantee but if there ever was one in the playoffs it should be. Byrd pitched Friday night, so Saturday-Sunday-Monday -- he'll be on short rest for this game. Washburn is the only starter they have that could possibly be on full rest for Game 1. If Washburn still isn't good for Game 2, I'm not quite sure who the Angels could throw - Lackey would only have 2 days' rest, Santana is cooked from throwing 85 pitches, and Colon is just plain cooked. They'd be really screwed. But I think Washburn should be OK for Game 2 - I had strep throat one time and it wasn't really anything...just a sore throat.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 12:15 AM) There's no way you can win a 7 game series with Byrd/Washburn/Lackey/Santana. Lackey 2-0, 2.57 ERA vs. CHW in 2005 Santana 1-0, 0.00 ERA vs. CHW in 2005 Byrd 1-0, 7.50 ERA vs. CHW in 2005 I guess those 4 guys do have enough to win a 7 game series. Don't think it won't be tough against the Angels. They run well, and AJ has a tough time throwing people out. They pitch well, and the Sox have been known to have hitting problems. They make it a 7-inning game with Shields and K-Rod at the back end of their bullpen. The Sox have their hands full. There's a reason why the Angels won the season series 6-4. They are very, very good.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 10, 2005 -> 04:18 PM) Wow. Hopefully some of those guys refuse their assignments and they lose them. LeCroy had the highest OPS+ of any Twins player in 2005....they probably shouldn't be ditching their best hitters given their pathetic offense. Unless Morneau, Ford and Cuddyer improve dramatically next year, Kubel comes back and is ready to hit and play, and Hunter regains his .850 OPS form, the Twins are really going to be in a down cycle the next few years, even with their great pitching. I think the division is going to boil down to the Sox and Jndjans next year again, with the edge to the Jndjans if they re-sign Millwood. If they don't re-sign Millwood, I think the Sox would have the slight edge. It scares me how good Peralta is. I actually hope he's not a good of hitter as he was this year, for the White Sox's sake. That core of Martinez-Peralta-Sizemore up the middle is awesome.

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Sep 28, 2005 -> 06:42 PM) Who the heck had a .910 OPS first year? That was Rowand's 4th season with the Sox and was a .905 OPS, which is WAY out of line with any of his past or since production... Nobody has changed Rowand's role or asked him to do something he's physically not capable of, as Pods tried to do for the Brewers... I don't hate Rowand at all, you can't hate the guy, he's all heart. That said, I hate the irrational defense of him, particularly his mediocre and vastly overrated defense. Run into a couple of walls and a guy is suddenly irreplaceable. Anderson was killing AA pitching before injuring himself and his production tailed off immensely at the end of his time in Birmingham due to it. What does Aaron Rowand give you that Brian Anderson cannot provide. Please tell me. If you're hanging your hat on Rowand to come anywhere close to that .905 OPS year I have some swamp land in Florida for sale... You make a lot of good points, but I don't think Rowand's defense is overrated. He takes the best angles on balls hit to CF of anybody you watch in the game today. I truly believe he's earned his defensive reputation. That said, I think Brian Anderson and Aaron Rowand are going to have essentially the same career trajectories. Hitting-wise, I don't think either of them are going to put up corner OF numbers. The value of both of them is in CF. Anderson I think will have better plate discipline and thus be a marginally better hitter, but it'll be close because Rowand's HBP (he had 21! this year, and consistently gets hit alot to up his OBP) will goose his OBP. My guess is that Anderson is .270/.340/.440 long term while Rowand is .275/.335/.440 long term - almost indistinguishable at the plate. But I doubt either will ever be a corner OF for the Yankees or Red Sox.

I used to have the Sox's salaries set up for 3 years, but lost the database (somewhere I have it in a post on SoxTalk). The Sox are at $75 million this year. I think, with the playoffs, they will be turning a $5-$10 million profit this year - just a guess based on what I know about MLB revenue in general and Sox revenue in particular. Let's assume that the Sox will raise the payroll by up to $10 million next year if (1) they go deep in the playoffs; and (2) they perceive offense as the one thing they lack and are willing to spend to get the additional bats. Right now, the $75 million is broken down like this: Paulie- $8.75 Frank- $8.0 million Garcia - $8.0 million Buehrle - $6.0 million Contreras - $6.0 million (NYY pick up $2 of his $8 million) Dye - $4.0 million Everett - $4.0 million El Duque - $3.5 million Jon Garland - $3.4 million Takatsu - $2.5 million Iguchi - $2.3 million AJ Pierzynski- $2.25 million Juan Uribe - $2.15 million Hermanson - $2.0 million Rowand - $2.0 million Vizcaino - $1.3 million Marte - $1.25 million Timo! - $1.0 million Politte- $1.0 million Podsednik- $0.7 million All others are near the minimum. Garcia and Dye will get $1 million raises for 2006, and I believe Buehrle gets a $2 million raise. Garland stands to get a $2-$3 million raise from arbitration and his 18-10 season. Other raises (including one to AJ) will cost the White Sox probably $5-6 million. So the current roster would probably go up $11-$12 million just naturally. I'll assume Big Frank doesn't come back, saving $8 million (really $4.5, because there is a $3.5 m buyout). Everett won't be back at $4 million, and Takatsu's $2.5 million will be off the books. That amounts to $14.5 million if you don't include Frank's buy out. Net net, that's a savings of $2.5-$3 million for 2006. That can go almost straight to Konerko to bump his salary to $10.5 million, as part of 4 yr/ $42 million deal, with $1 million left over. Assuming this extra $1 million after resigning Paulie, and the $10 million expanded budget I assume, the Sox would have $11 million to play with in the offseason. $11 million would probably buy the Sox one top-tier free agent. The Sox's offensive weaknesses are at DH, 3B, LF and CF (because of Aaron's down year), while they have average production from the SS, C, and RF position. Iguchi is above average at 2B and Konerko is well above average at 1B. I'd like to see the Sox go after a Brian Giles-type player to play DH and spell Dye/Podsednik in the outfield, and be a true #3 hitter. Giles hit .301/.423/.483 playing half his games at Petco, the most pitcher-friendly park in either league. Giles made $8.3 million this year, and it wouldn't be crazy to offer him a 3-year, $25.5 million contract. The problem is that he is a So Cal native, and he'd be very difficult to pull out of California. You might have to over-pay him for a couple of years to get him to come. The other option is trading for Jim Thome, who doesn't fit in Philadelphia any more because of Ryan Howard. Thome's owed a crapload of money, so the Sox might be able to get him on the cheap if they are willing to assume, say, $9 million of his contract per year. I think that Brian Anderson, Damaso Marte and a AA prospect probably does the trick. Thome's got a no-trade, so you'd have to convince him to come to Chicago. As a Peoria guy, that may not be out of the question. Of course, the Sox still have to decide what they want to do with their 6-man rotation of Buehrle-Garland-Contreras-Garcia-El-Duque-McCarthy. Garland, Contreras and El Duque are all free agents after '06. I'd see who the Sox can sign to a 3-year deal among Contreras and Garland, and trade the other, who would likely get the Sox a fairly good hitter in return.

I doubt Mariotti has ever been to Yankee Stadium, which is a complete dump. Its only charm for Yankee fans is the 26 world championships the Yankees have won. Without that, it's just another cramped, old, steep-upper deck ballpark that ranks lower in my mind than any I've ever been too.

QUOTE(ottawa_sox @ Oct 6, 2005 -> 11:07 PM) The weather report says that Friday the wind will be coming from the south at 17 mph. However, I don't know the location of home plate, in reference to the mound at Fenway. If it is coming from Due South, it would be blowing from home plate to third base. A southwest wind would be blowing from home to the mound. A southeast wind is a cross wind from first base to third base. All this courtesy of Google Earth.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Oct 6, 2005 -> 04:30 PM) Please Ozzie, don't answer any questions about the ALCS before you've won the ALDS. Jesus. Amen. It's silly to even think about that. Game 3 should be played like it's do or die. No need to think about who's starting Game 4, Game 5, the ALCS or the World Series. (That said, you have to think about your relievers for a Game 4 if you are behind in Game 3).

QUOTE(BDavisFutureHOF @ Oct 6, 2005 -> 12:35 PM) Does anyone know what the process is for getting tickets through whitesox.com? Don't we have to actually win the ALDS first?

QUOTE(Greg Hibbard @ Oct 6, 2005 -> 11:50 AM) this is the weakest red sox team since 1998. Except for the fact that they won 95 games. This Red Sox team isn't to be trifled with. The Sox have their best matchup in game 3. Garcia pitches well against the Red Sox, on the road, and during the day. Wakefield has been owned by the White Sox over his career, and by Aaron Rowand in particular. When your opponent is drowning, you throw him an anvil. Game 3 is the f***ing anvil. This is a MUST have game. You can't give them any confidence. The Red Sox offense scares the ever loving crap out of me. And they could put up two 10 spots on Garcia and Garland in games 3 & 4 and they could shift the momentum in the series. Tough to win game 5 even at home when the other team comes off the ropes swinging and stings you with two shots.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Oct 6, 2005 -> 10:44 AM) Ravich sure didnt appreciate Gammons changing his mind, and let him know last night. Didn't Gammons pick the White Sox in 5 games? That's what is on ESPN.com. Did Gammons decide he liked the Red Sox yesterday or something? What was the back and forth on that?

QUOTE(bighurt574 @ Oct 6, 2005 -> 10:45 AM) He wasn't throwing any for strikes, but I was suprised none of the Boston hitters chased any, they all started right down the middle and sharply dropped off. I wonder if he was tipping his pitches a little. I thought the same exact thing - good observation. I'm not sure that he was tipping his pitches so much as Boston hitters were recognizing his curve ball and their game plan was simply to take it. If he gets it over, they are cooked. Jenks did get squeezed on at least one curve ball, but definitely never got it over for a strike. The Red Sox strategy of taking Jenks' curve is important information for AJ to have. I'd have him set up for Jenks to throw a couple of curves for strikes on pitch-1 or pitch-2 of an at bat so the Red Sox have to respect the curve. Then you can throw a filthy one in the dirt on a 1-2 count for the K. The encouraging thing is that Jenks threw two shutout innings against the Red Sox without having his second best pitch working. Nice.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Sep 5, 2005 -> 11:53 PM) You can't rank a draft after half a season. I'd mostly agree, but I know a lot of people around here last year back-slapping each other about how well the Sox did in 2004. Can anyone think of a player from the 2005 Sox draft class that had the kind of debut Gio did last year? No one really stood out, and some of the top picks kind of stumbled, with Broadway leading the way (I know he was overused, etc.).

QUOTE(OilCan @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 09:57 PM) Wouldn't be suprised if the Sox's farm system ranked around 5-7. With all the solid pitching they have accumulated in the last few years, plus OF depth, they should be in the mid-single digits. Plus depth at 3b and a little infield now in Getz will get the Sox a long way. Just keep it coming, baby! I actually think the Sox's system will drop. This year's draft class, led by Lance Broadway, has not had a standout performance like some of the 2004 draftees did last year (Gonzalez, Liotta). The minors are extremely outfield-heavy in prospects, which are a dime a dozen in any case. The Sox minors are short at SS (with Valido the only real prospect), 2B (none really pop out) and 3B (Fields has high K's, low AVG., worrisome for someone who will need to compete at higher levels). C is weak as well.

QUOTE(Antonio Osuna @ Sep 3, 2005 -> 01:22 PM) He seems to suffer from a lot of tightness, though. A future "injury prone" guy? This is his first full season of pro ball...I'd expect him to adjust. Remember, this kid didn't even play the whole season of high school ball his senior year because of some shenanigans between his mom, his brother and the coach. I didn't know his fastball had gotten up into the low 90's. That's more than adequate if he's got a plus curve like he does and can develop a plus change. I'd rather seem him add a cut fastball and work on locating his fastball than getting 2-3 mph on his heater. If he can have the command to walk fewer than 2.5 hitters per 9 in the majors, his curve/heater/change combo will really carry him to be a top of the rotation starter. If he walks 3.5, he'll be a back/end of the rotation guy.

QUOTE(Steff @ Sep 3, 2005 -> 02:05 PM) Lowballed isn't even close to what I would call it. The word used was "sickening", IIRC. What I don't understand is that Farmer will be back. If they lowballed Rooney, wouldn't they lowball Farmer, too? Or did Ed just have a different contract or did Ed just take what they were giving him? Interesting that they agreed with one but not both.

Charlotte loses 5-4 to Richmond. Box. Diaz takes loss, gives up 5 in 6. Toca had 2 hits, one of which stayed in the park. Anderson o-fer. Birmingham beats 2nd place Jacksonville 2-1. Box. Tracey gets the win, pitches 8 strong, 2 BB, 3 K. Rogo left the premises, Sweeney and Fields with two hits, including a double for each. Sweeney is up to .293 on the season - he's really finishing strong. Great to see he's making the adjustments. Birmingham can clinch the second half title with a victory overy Jax Saturday... http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/clu...d=milb&cid=t247 Winston-Salem beats Kinston 5-2. Box. Nanita three hits, Valido 2 hits, including a double. Rodriguez picks up the victory - he gave up 3 hits over 8, walking 2 and K'ing 5. 12 victories for Rodriguez. Kannapolis loses to Asheville 6-2. Box. Nobody more than a hit for Kanny. Baker gives up 4 runs in relief to ruin a pretty good outing by Egbert - 6 innings, 2 runs, 0 BB and 8 k's. Great Falls beats Billings 10-7. Box. The spread around the hits pretty well. Moviel picks up the win, pitching a nice 5 innings, with only 1 run, walking 2 and striking out 6. He's 3-1 with an ERA a shade under 4. Bristol's season is done. (30-36, second place by 17.5 games).

QUOTE(Steff @ Sep 3, 2005 -> 09:02 AM) Incorrect. The Score holds the cards. The Score hires, but the Sox have the right to approve whoever they pick. The Score couldn't, for example, pick Chip Carey for radio PBP if the Sox didn't want him. I'll miss Rooney. He's a hell of an announcer.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 30, 2005 -> 11:54 PM) One thing for BMac, he needs to eat a couple burgers and hit the weights. He's skinny as a rail. We should keep him in Chicago just to beef him up a bit with all the great food this town has to offer. Seriously, get that guy to Wendy's STAT! I think Brandon will come back in 2006 with at least 15 extra pounds. And I bet 2 mph more on his fastball.

My read of that was that they were saying "nice" things about the Sox while rejecting the Sox. Kind of like turning down someone you don't want to go out with based on the fact that you are "kind of" seeing someone else. We'll see how good he does at Texas. . .