lvjeremylv

As an extra in "Scarface: 2005" is my prediction. Who cares, really. I'm very glad he's gone. Great decision by Sox management to let him walk rather than pay him $12-$15M a season.

We've had the best roster in the AL Central for the past 5 years. Unfortunately, they choked in the playoffs in 2000, 2001 was ruined by injury, and 2002, 2003, and 2004 the Sox pulled their typical loser routine and came up short. I love the changes they've made this off-season, and I'm just hoping they can get off to a good start, get the fans to come out to the ballpark, and stay in the race the whole season. Then, just get into the playoffs and see if they can win a game. That's a major step forward if they can do that. Extra revenue, and hopefully an upped payroll in 2006. And the people that think the Sox have any chance of winning it all are insane. They have 0 chance of winning the World Series in 2005. This is a 3-4 year process if KW and management do the right things, and if the players on the field play to win. 2005 is year 1.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 9, 2005 -> 07:10 PM) People why are we arguging? IMO, Castillo is one of 2 2B That would fit the sox new plan, with Marcus Giles being the other. WE are giving up a RP for a hole. Yes we will miss Marte, but Castillo is a bigger need.. Anything to not have Harris fail at 2b again. I'm still wondering how an OBP of .343 is "failing". Is it great? No, of course not. But is it a failure to have a .343 OBP in your first real shot at the major league level? I say absolutely not. Add to that solid defense at 2B along with 19 stolen bases, and I'd say it was rather successful. His power numbers were invisible, but that wasn't a surprise to anybody. Why so down on him? And provide reasons and explanations - not just baseless and floating statements. I could see us trading away our best reliever (no offense to Shingo, I love the guy - but he's got to do it again for me to buy him as the real deal) if we were going to get something great like a package deal for a #1 or #2 starter, but to upgrade a position that's really not that weak for us? I just wouldn't see the logic in that at all. And just for fun I checked out Luis Castillo's stats to make sure I wasn't rushing to judgement, and I'm really not. If the Sox were to trade Marte for Castillo, we'd be picking up some salary (not sure how much Marte is due to make in the next couple of years, but it's not as much as Castillo), weakening our bullpen considerably, all while upgrading slightly. Breakdown of Willie Harris vs. Luis Castillo from 2004... Batting Average: WH .262 LC .291 --- advantage LC by 29 points OBP: WH .343 LC .373 --- advantage LC by 30 points Steals: WH 19 LC 21 --- advantage Willie (he had 155 less AB than Luis) Fielding Percentage (at 2B): WH .990 LC .991 Soooo, we'd be giving up our best reliever (who's also one of the top 3 or 4 lefties out of the pen in the AL, if not all of baseball) and a couple million in salary (at least) to gain 30 batting average points? Is that worth it? To me, it's not. Speed and defense are a wash IMO. Especially when Willie *should* improve upon those numbers with more regular playing time. Willie has a lot of upside, while Luis Castillo's best years are behind him IMO. Am I the only one who doesn't hate Willie Harris? Ha ha.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Jan 9, 2005 -> 04:02 PM) Some people have a set opinion about willie and soxfest seems to be one of them. I suppose, but don't make comments like "the guy cannot get on base" when his OBP was 4th on the team (of players who played nearly a full season). Comments with 0 basis in factuality loses any credibility your argument may have.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 9, 2005 -> 09:40 AM) A 343 OBP says something different to me, but thats just me. Yeah, really. WTF are you talking about Soxfest? He hit .262 and walked over 50 times in just over 400 at bats. To me, that's hardly "guy cannot get on base at all".

QUOTE(Credepopsup @ Jan 9, 2005 -> 07:44 AM) Buehrle's my favorite player. If I had to choose an everyday player then Aaron Rowand would get my vote. I'll be rooting for Crede this year too, I think it's a big season for him. Credepopsup, your user name reminded me of something I heard on SportsCenter the other night about Wade Boggs. One season (I can't remember what year), Wade only hit 5 infield popups ALL season long, and only 1 of those was in fair territory. I think Crede hits 5 infield popups each series.

Where did you hear that management doesn't like his attitude? I thought KW was fond of Willie? (OK, that could be taken a couple of ways, but you know what I mean ) If management didn't like Harris, I don't think he would have had over 400 AB last season. Maybe my thinking is flawed.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Jan 8, 2005 -> 10:09 AM) I was hoping they'd deal Konerko this offseason. He chews up more than 10% of our payroll and several teams would probably be interested. Coming off best offensive year yet. I think Gload is Major League ready. While I like Paul and think he's going to be a big part of our team in 2005 and future years if we have him, I think that the Sox could have acquired some good talent in a trade for him. Is he really going to have a season like the one he had in 2004 again? I highly doubt it, and like you mentioned, he's making a good chunk of money. IMO, that money could be better spent on pitching. And as far as Willie Harris goes, I don't see how someone could think he has 0 trade value. He's a slick fielding speedster who hit .260 in his first full season. Granted, .260 isn't all that great, but when you add in his youth, defensive prowess and speed (50 SB potential), I'd say he's got plenty of trade value. Not as a main guy in a trade, but in addition to a guy like Konerko or someone, I think the Sox could get something good in return.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jan 9, 2005 -> 05:27 AM) the M's reportedly offered Delgado a 3 yr, $30 mill deal. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-mar...la-sports-front If they got Delgado, Castillo would be a decent bet to move. Fill a spot in their bullpen with Marte, and clear salary Marte for Castillo? No thanks. Marte is one of the best lefty relievers in baseball, and I wouldn't trade him to fill a spot that *really* isn't that bad for the Sox. Willie harris hit .260 last year (and should improve if he gets as many ABs as he did in 2004), and he figures to be our #9 hitter this season. A .260+ average from a #9 hitting 2B with good defensive abilities and excellent speed is just fine IMO. And factor in the salary he'll be making in 2005, and I'm very happy with our 2B situation. The only way I'd move Marte is if it was part of a deal to acquire a stud starter.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 8, 2005 -> 02:35 PM) When he brings that same attitude to the mound......... Yup. A stoner who seems to be very content at being a .500 pitcher with a 4.50 ERA. What a stud. :rolly

Frank not favorite material? Been my favorite since 1993 and it'll never change.

Wow. I was already very happy about the signing, but now I'm VERY happy about it. Those quotes should be printed out in size 1,000 font and hung on a banner in the White Sox locker room. It's all about winning - and like Hetfield says, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. Hopefully the loser mentality the White Sox have had in past years will be eroded. Dumping Loser Lee and Loser Ordonez was a great start. Now the guys we got need to come in and produce and hopefully we'll play as a team for a change.

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup. Frank was the MVP that year, not that juiced up loser Giambi. Frank

DJ is an absolutely horrible announcer, and I hope the Sox fire his ass. He hasn't improved 1 iota since he started, and I'd bet my next month's salary that if if he pissed in a cup, it would come back POSITIVE for pot. And if he's not stoned, he's the dumbest person on Earth. I like Steve Stone and think he'd be a good addition to the Sox booth (it sure would be nice to have 2 announcers who know something about baseball), but literally anybody would be an upgrade from DJ IMO.

I'd gotta say it's Uribe. Put Harris #9. That way you can still have your speed duo for those that are interested in that, and you get the better offensive guy higher in the lineup. "Reggie", as I call him, better brush up on his bunting, though, because Podsednik will hopefully be starting many games by getting on and stealing 2nd, and it'll be up to Uribe to get him over to 3rd with less than 2 out. If he is unable/unwilling to do that, perhaps Rowand will have to be moved up, but I'd like to see him hitting in the 5 hole or so.

QUOTE(TheBlackSox8 @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 11:42 AM) does that rating go up to an 8 or an 8.5 with the signing of AJ now? I thought the offseason was getting worse until we signed el duque and AJ....now i can see an ALC championship next year... Possibly an 8, sure. I was really just pulling numbers out of my ass, but I don't think calling this Sox team the most well-rounded team we've had in years is inaccurate. We aren't *great* in any one area, but we're not too weak anywhere, either. And I'm not talking position-by-position -- I'm talking about the 3 main parts of a team: The lineup, The starting rotation, and The bullpen. We're pretty solid.

:sleep If the Sox were to trade for Vazquez, it would totally erase all the good that has been accomplished this off-season.

QUOTE(poorme @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 08:36 AM) better than the same old s*** in my opinion. Great phrasing of it - that's exactly how I feel. The Sox tried the same old bulls*** for 4 years with no success. Finally KW is realizing that if he wants the Sox to have a shot at competing, he'll have to do something different. So far, I love it. How it plays out remains to be seen, but like poorme said, at least this is something different, and IMO very exciting. This is as pumped for an opening day as I've been since 2001 (the year after we made the playoffs and has aspirations of doing it again).

:rolly I'll be happy with 89.

Yup. All arbitration is, is this -- your employer pointing out your flaws and shortcomings in an attempt to take bread off your family's table (it's a figure of speech..I know these guys are millionaires). What bad blood could come out of that?! :rolly

QUOTE(robinventura23 @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 08:25 AM) Wilson Valdez? :puke +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 08:11 AM) Yeah but noone was interested in Shingo either last season and how did that work out for the Sox?? Well, my theory is that a player (especially a pitcher) has to do well for 2 seasons before proving anything to me. But yes, so far, Shingo has done quite well for the Sox. I would, however, submit to you that Shingo's flying under the radar and then having success is the exception, and not the rule.

Or you could even call it a small bridge to JAP. HA HA HA HA. But seriously, the fact that they "can't give an answer" to our offer shows that they're considering it, so that's a good thing for those who want this guy on the Sox. I don't know a thing about him, so I'm not going to get too excited one way or the other. Someone said that Matsui and Ichiro were big risks when they came over to the US, too, but they seem to have been more heavily sought after than this Iguchi guy. I mean, it's almost mid-January, and other than hearing about him from this message board, I haven't heard the guy's name mentioned once anywhere. Maybe I'm watching the wrong sports shows, but that seems odd to me.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 07:45 AM) If you want to be nitpicky, Cheat's exact word was best "deal", which inferrs a bargin. The Yankees paid through the nose for Randy Johnson. The Sox got AJP for about 1/25th of the money, let alone the #2 starter, and two big name prospects that got given up. Pitchers like Randy Johnson don't grow on trees, and to acquire him, the Yankees gave up a lot. But, like I said, what they gave up will more than be returned to them when he helps bring them yet another championship. Hell, he might even help bring them 2, and if he does, all that extra revenue will be used by Steinbrenner to beef up his payroll even more. I predict the Yankees' payroll will hit $300M before the Sox hits $100M. Not a bold prediction, really, but a funny one.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 07:35 AM) I give this offseason thus far a B+ and if they can get Iguchi I will say A- for the fact that Kenny has addressed pretty much every hole the Sox had. I'd probably give him an A- right now, even without Iguchi, but I agree with Kenny pretty much addressing our gaps. The only one really not touched on is our lack of a DOMINANT starter, but realistically, there's only a handful of those in baseball, so unless we wanted to trade the farm for someone like RJ, it wasn't going to happen. So yeah, very good off-season for the Sox. Hopefully they'll learn that if they can put a couple off-seasons like this together in a row, they'll actually be playing baseball in late October instead of golf. What a concept!