nitetrain8601

QUOTE(VAfan @ Dec 8, 2005 -> 02:00 PM) This is a great move on several fronts. 1. Goodbye Marte. Can't we all recite horror stories of Marte coming into games? How about Ozzie summoning him for the 3rd game against Boston. Nixon singles, followed by walks to Mueller and Olerud to load the bases in a 1-rum game. Or the game when he hit the two lefties he faced? Etc., etc., etc. The guy has tremendous "stuff" but he wasn't going to harness it for us any more, and I was tired of watching Ozzie use him in situations when anyone else from our pen would have been a better choice. 2. Goodbye Timo. Another Ozzie favorite who got way more than his share of ABs last year. Yes he won one game against the Angels with a pinch hit in the 9th, but otherwise he never should have seen the field. 3. Insurance for the inevitable Anderson slumps. Anderson's first 34 ABs don't give me great confidence that he can be a full-time CF this year. We needed a backup plan other than Jerry Owens and Chris Young (and I suppose Joe Borchard). Mackowiak should allow Ozzie to rest Anderson against tough right handers, especially early in the season. 4. Insurance for Crede's back. Mackowiak will likely help rest Crede at least once a week. By sitting him against some right handers, this might also help keep Crede out of his horrific slumps. 5. A legit lefty pinch hitter. If Mack isn't in the starting lineup, he offers a very good lefty pinch hitting option for Anderson, Uribe, or even Tadahito. In interleague games, he'll have other pinch hitting opptys. 6. Lefty backup for Tadahito. Mackowiak will also get some time at 2B against right handers, as Ozuna doesn't hit righties well at all. With Timo gone, the guy on the bubble is Willie Harris. He'll almost certainly be gone because he didn't prove he can play SS. It's too bad, as Harris is much better defensively at 2B than Tadahito or Mackowiak or even Ozuna. And he has more speed than anyone on the team, even Pods. The bench is now Widger, Mackowiak, and Ozuna, with slots for 1 or 2 more guys, depending on whether we carry 12 pitchers. Personally, until we got Mackowiak, I was wondering if Jose Valentin would be ready to slip into a utility role for the infield. And I still wonder if he wouldn't be a better backup for Uribe/Iguchi than Ozuna is. Probably not, because Ozuna has value as a righty backup to Pods in LF. And certainly Jose would want a lot more money than Ozuna makes. So I'm satisfied with Mack. I'd bet my kidney that Timo is here next year.

For all the s*** Willie gets, remember that he looked alot better after being called up from AAA, remember that he sucks up everything at 2B, and remember that he's speed off the bench. And I hear that people didn't like Willie because I guess he pulled some stunt in 2004, but from everything I've seen this past year, he was always talking to guys on the team like Buehrle and it looked like he got along with them just fine.

Hate it for reasons stated in the other thread.

QUOTE(White Sox Josh @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 07:14 PM) why did they draft Benson? They had a good RB in Thomas Jones. They wanted to run the football a lot more. To be a team that runs the ball like the Steelers do you need 2 good running backs. They planned on using Thomas Jones as a backup and quietly letting him go when his contract was up or trade him, but Benson f'd up his plan.

I'd do this in a heartbeat and it's not even a question. Willis is a charasmatic young LHP with great stuff. Plus he's had 2 bad 2nd halves and his last one was a good one. I guess it's not possible to be a pitcher that has turned the corner unless you come from the White Sox. McCarthy is a question mark. Willis may be one in the 2nd half, but he's even still way less of a question mark.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 10:42 PM) Child porn for a middle school teacher is a little bit more then a mistake. I agree.

From NSBB

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 09:21 PM) If Abreu were 25, then the trade would be far more intriguing as he'd be entering his prime and would likely not make a ton of money yet but age/cost prevent that. Plus, how bad would the Cubs look if Prior becomes the next ROger Clemens after they traded him? Would not be good ofr them You can't go into trades thinking what if the guy we trade turns out good. You have to think what if the guy who we get turns out good or not.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 08:09 PM) The Cubs would be getting fleeced, imo. I don't think so. It would be pretty even. The problem with the Cubs is that they can't depend on their other starters so they have to keep whoever they have and hope they don't get hurt.

F'd up stuff. That's not too far from my house either. It's about a 10 minute drive down the same road.

What school do you go to Cerb?

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 08:12 AM) When called at his home to discuss Walker leaving his agency, Rosenhaus replied : "No Comment" When asked if he satisfied his wife last night, Rosenhaus quickly replied: "No Comment"

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 12:20 PM) I would agree...but Abreu is not exactly "Cheap" either...and despite his first half last year, I'm not sure he's ever really put up the numbers to justify his contract...yeah he had a high OPS some years, but on average since 2001 it seems he comes out to around .900, and he's only hit 30 home runs 2 times in his career. Look at the SB's as well. He's a complete player. Prior for Abreu straight up would be fair.

QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 4, 2005 -> 11:23 AM) This is a non-issue to me, not sure why I would be concerned. Agreed.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 12:14 PM) I don't see this as being not-thought-through. I think that for this to succeed, players and teams need to be pushed towards it. Otherwise, it would never happen. I have no doubt that MLB knew full well that some baseball execs would have objections. As I stated earlier, I think this is a great thing. If you want the phrase "World Champions" to mean something, then you have to try to head that direction. This is obviously only a small step, but it's going the right way. I don't know about that. Other countries are hyped up about this. I heard the Cubans wish they would field a team as well. Every other country is hyped up about this. In fact, everyone is hyped up on this minus American fans. Again, IMO, it's no different than playing Winter League or ST except it means more to the players. If you don't believe that, then there's something wrong with you.

Anyone have that flyind under the radar picture handy?

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ Dec 5, 2005 -> 03:51 PM) If it happens in Spring Training, at least it happened on their watch. These guys are paid a s*** load of money by their organizations, and if one of them gets hurt performing an activity which they are not paid to do, the organization has the right to be pissed about it. Thats why you'll hear about clauses in contracts that give teams the ability to void contracts if they get hurt during extra-curricular activities (see Jay Williams and Kellen Winslow Jr.). Playing in these games is a definite risk for these players. And if one player who is an integral part of a major league roster gets hurt, expect a major backlash. How is it anymore of a risk than ST games? IIRC, Buehrle was hurt last ST shagging balls.

QUOTE(dmbjeff @ Dec 5, 2005 -> 02:54 PM) http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...content=country first freddy, now buehrle......the wbc is just a bad idea....apparently if u play major league baseball and u have an italian last name, you get to play for the italian national team.....so stupid How is the WBC a bad idea? How is it any different then having a couple of all-star games or Winter League? It's not like these guys will be going 9 innings per outing and the only ones pitching. In fact, I will venture to say that the ones playing in the WBC have an advantage when it comes to the regular season since they'll have more of a rhythm while many are still trying to find their's. I think the WBC is a great idea. If the White Sox weren't coming off of a World Series, I bet there wouldn't be as many complainers. If an injury occurs, then an injury occurs. There's no way you can 100% prevent an injury. Whether someone is playing a game at the park with their kids or playing against a National team.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Dec 1, 2005 -> 10:23 PM) Sorry Ninetrain, no UIC. F this game. It doesn't deserve to be made. I'll happily be going with whatever baseball game is made that's not MVP 2006.

I think Price would be a good tag team with Mushin Muhammed. We didn't use Peerless at all in Dallas. I think if the Bears could get him, they'd look good.

QUOTE(WinninUgly @ Dec 5, 2005 -> 06:36 AM) Yeah, but there should be some type of MLB policy in place that prevents stuff like this from happening. The same thing goes for the Yankees and now the Mets outrageous contracts, that should be stopped as well. A team shouldn't have to sell off its high priced players every 3-5 years to stay competitive, or because they can't get a new stadium. The Marlins organization is doing this to completely justify their move. Unlike when the Browns just left CLE for BAL, the Marlins are making their fans leave before the team moves. In doing this, they are giving away some of their top players for prospects, which most people always say are just prospects until they do something. I know some of the deals had nice prospects, but the Marlins basically advertised that they having a firesale. This is just bad for baseball. I wouldn't be surprised if they break the record for the losses in a season. They are only keeping Willis and Cab, and how would you feel if you were one of those players. There is no way you can make this into a positive situation except for the teams that are getting proven Major Leaguers for prospects. Just my 2 cents. Check this thread out: http://www.marlinbaseball.com/forums/index...showtopic=54110 If fans don't come out, then the team doesn't gain revenue. If the team doesn't gain revenue, they can't play their players. The Marlins pretty much went for it last year(WS and trying to get the fans to come out for a marquee player in Delgado) and they still wouldn't come out. With contracts increasing in price, you can't continue to pay with no revenue. That's why they're doing this.

Where's the no one option?

QUOTE(White Sox Josh @ Dec 4, 2005 -> 03:29 PM) Shut Up! All of you blind Grossman supporters should realize that he isn't even healthy enough to start. You want Jeff Blake over Orton? Because Grossman coming in right now isn't even a f***ing valid option. Grossman is healthy enough to be a 3rd String QB that is it. Actually if I were a Bears fan, I would take Blake over Orton.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Dec 4, 2005 -> 03:28 PM) Because thats all they ever do. How many high picks have we wasted in the last 10 years trying to draft the next Walter Payton? I think the Bears will draft a WR (the wrong one; e.g. Dez White) or probably trade down for multiple picks. It's the Jerry Angelo school of thinking.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Dec 4, 2005 -> 02:29 PM) USC has the best overall QB, RB and WR. A solid D and the better O-line. Reggie Bush is too hard to stop. I'd agree with RB and WR, don't know about QB.