jphat007

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jan 26, 2006 -> 01:15 PM) They'd be weary of trading Milledge straight up for Contreras, I doubt they'd throw in a good young pitcher along with him . . . of course it is the Mets, so you never know. I don't think either team would do that deal straight up.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 26, 2006 -> 07:14 AM) Milledge may or may not be a star. His numbers thus far are no better than Jeremy Reed's before he was dealt to Seattle with a couple of others for what could have been 3 months of Freddie Garcia. It appears a lot of people have already written off Reed as a potential star. I still think he's going to be a very good hitter, and he plays surprisingly exceptional defense. Contreras showed last season that he's a #1 pitcher. You don't give those guys up for prospects when you are in position to win the WS. The White Sox are in a different position than they have been in the past. The have a legitimate shot of winning it all again, and there is no guarantee Contreras is gone after this season anyway. Exactly.

A's are gonna be good. Top 2 or 3 team with us and the Yanks I'm thinking, seperating from the pack. Good luck Big Frank!

Sleeper: A's/Brewers (can A's be considered a sleeper?) Bust: Angels/Mets

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 25, 2006 -> 11:17 AM) Just curious here. Define "a long time". I'm a diehard Sox fan. No ifs, ands, or buts about it and there many on here that can tell you as much. I wasn't questioning your degree of fandom. But what you so maturely call 'slurping' I call respecting your opponents. I dont doubt you, or anyone here (for the most part), is a big Sox fan. I just wonder why so many people fall over themselves talking so greatly about Cleveland like they've improved and are close to overtaking us. We won the division by 6 games despite the fact that they had an incredible August and September. Meanwhile, they do not appear to be anywhere near as good as last year, and we have improved the holes that we needed to fill. And I'm trying to find the psychology in people saying "watch out for the great Cleveland." I expect us to win the division, even though there is a distinct possibility we could lose it. I respect Cleveland and the run they had last year. You can be a homer and still be objective. I hope we are all homers in some way. Oh well. Doesn't really matter. What will happen this year will happen, and if people like to hype up Cleveland, thats cool by me.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 25, 2006 -> 08:41 AM) Its gonna be between the two of them, as far as I am concerned..... Dmitri Young will happily agree with you.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 25, 2006 -> 07:13 AM) Actually, there are some of us the look at the competition and give them the respect they are entitled to. Watch this game long enough and you'll learn that things come together that aren't expected to come together, and things fall apart that would be the last thing you'd expect. There is some talent on those teams. I have watched the game for a long time. I've said many times that we can lose the division next year. We could even finish third. Everyone could get hurt, everyone could get beat up. But coming off of a year in which we won 99 games and improved the team, while Minny improved only a little and Cleveland actually got worse, there is no real reason to say they should beat us, or even hang with us. Now if I was a fan of those teams in that position I would certainly feel otherwise. They are certainly entitled to that. Hope is what makes sports fun. They have plenty of talent. That doesn't change anything. I'm not gonna sit here and slurp them because they do. I'm not an Indians or Twins fan. I'm knowledgable enough to know that they can beat us any given year, but I'm not gonna sit here and slurp them and say it every chance I get. That's for the Indians and Twins fans to do. Maybe it's just that people are trying to lower expectations and build up those two teams so they don't get themselves dissapointed if they beat us this year, which is certainly a possibility. Expect them to be awesome to soften the blow if we get beat this year. Maybe that has something to do with it. I dunno. Damn right I'm a Sox homer. They are my team.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 04:39 PM) Or a complete White Sox homer, which in this case(at least I think your referring to Jphat) its true, he is just a huge Sox homer. The Central is going to have some GREAT games this year, and I expect this season to be more stressful than the last, if thats even possible. Haha. The Sox have gotten better. The Indians have gotten worse. We were 14-5 against the Indians last year. Where is the disconnect? Sure, it could very well be extremely close and we can lose, but there is no real reason for that to happen. I may overrate some of the things we do about the Sox, but everybody else sure seems to slurp Minny and Cleveland an awful lot. I feel like I'm surrounded by Indian and Twin fans on this board sometimes.

YES!

DAMMIT. NOOOOO. STUPID MOTA. Do the deal anyway Boston. PLEASE.

Both Westbrook and Kearns are a little below mediocre. I am glad the Reds turned it down though. Good for us. We can still plan on whipping up on Westbrook throughout the year.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 02:16 PM) http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/NASApp/ml...layer_id=121125 Rhodes had a 2.08 ERA in 43.1 IP last season. It's a nice trade for us in 2006 but after that... But after that Marte could suck. Mota could continue to suck and Michaels is probably going to be very mediocre in Jacobs field, while CC will likely still put up a solid average, solid OBP, solid power (especially now in Boston). Marte could also become a superstar. You never know. BUt somehow I doubt the Braves and Indians are two teams that would easily give up a cheap can't miss for CC and Renteria. Really it shouldn't affect us all that much. Unless the Indians get more SP, more dominant bullpen pitching (especially another lefty), and a better bat, I'm not worried for the next few years, and in that time they'll hvae a lot of guys ready for big raises.

Michaels is a downgrade of Crisp. Mota is a BIG downgrade from Rhodes. Marte won't play. I like it.

Marte sure is getting traded a bunch for being a can't miss player. Makes one wonder.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 03:28 PM) Crisp is a very, very good player, and I'm happy he's gone. Also, if they go from Bettancourt to Mota, that would be a downgrade. Mota's a clubhouse cancer, and his stuff has deteriorated in the last few years. Exactly. Mota is extremely overrated. Headcase with diminishing stuff, and I'll bet he gets rocked in the AL.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 02:01 PM) IMO, Kenny knows he has tops 3 years left to win another World Series with this core. You keep saying you want Kenny to do a move like this, trade quality major league players for high end, low cost prospects. Thats all fine and great, but this team right now isnt in that position. Were basically putting all are eggs in one basket, hoping for another WS title in 06-08, and I have no problem with that. If winning another World Series in the next two years means in 2008-2013 we suck, I will have absolutely no problem with that. If our attendance stays up, and we at least have solid runs in 06-08, we aren't going to suck. We'll go out and build our teams with the money instead, relying on a few prospects that we draft in that time and a couple we already have. We're not going to be in a position where we are relying on prospects for awhile. Unless there is a strike and attendance sucks and then everyone's screwed anyway.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 01:53 PM) Difference is.... we can use their method and than add some more to it since our payroll is significantly higher than all 3 of those teams... Exactly. So why would we want to go use their method when we can use the method that KW is using? It's not our fault we won and our payroll will increase as a result.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 12:40 PM) Yeah, thank God all Minnesota received for an All-star catcher being forced from his position is some injured pitcher named Liriano and a decent bullpen pitcher named Nathan. Or how about that crappy package Indians received for Bartolo Colon? How many rings have those players gotten their team? Hell. How many ALCS' have those players gotten their team? Exactly. The AJ Nathan/Liriano deal was a great one for Twins. Ryan fleeced them. But that's one deal.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 01:34 PM) Thome and Vazquez validate your points about Williams' 'win now' approach. I never expected him to trade Contreras for anything less than a top prospect, or another bullpen arm capable of immediately contributing. With our luck in avoiding injuries, and the WBC just beyond the horizon, Williams' decision may prove to be correct. It's trades such as that of Cocoa Crisp-- a "rebuilding on the fly" concept, which Atlanta and Oakland have worked to perfection. Trading players with high value from a position of strength to reinforce a weakness is smart business. If we were to trade Contreras for a collection of pitching prospects, our rotation could conceivably allow the proper development of the players. Even with the threat of injuries, I'd take the risk if the pitching equivalent of Marte were to exchange teams. But since the Dodgers have exited the picture, and the talks with Houston nonexistent, dealing Contreras isn't a concern of mine. If our team enters Spring Training as it is right now I can't honestly complain. KW has done his job. I think I'll take KW's championship model over Oakland, Minnesota, and Cleveland's occasional division winner/first round exit/always looking for the future method/always rebuilding on the fly method. But that's just me. PS. I hope Mota is in the deal too. He's a headcase and was terrible for the Marlins in a pitcher's park in the NL. It seems like the Indians are going away from the thing that got them a chance last year.

I love when division rivals trade good major league players for prospects.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jan 19, 2006 -> 08:13 PM) UNC goes down again. Just too many dumbasses on the squad. Very, very low basketball IQ for guys like David Noel, Reyshawn Terry, Byron Sanders, Quentin Thomas, and Danny Green. UNC can't find a PG, can't find an outside shooter, and can't find any help for Tyler Hansbrough. Tough season. How bout my Hoos. We played a mediocre game and still won!!! But seriously. It will be much tougher to say that next year with the class you guys are bringing in. We'll get what we can take!! Thank you Depaul for Dave Leitao!

QUOTE(chitownsportsfan @ Jan 18, 2006 -> 10:03 PM) I really hope Uribe doesn't bat second. I'm sorry, but his OBP is terrible for a number 2 hitter. We need someone to get on base with the big boppers coming up, not someone swinging at everything and getting himself out. I love Uribe, I just would love him more in the 8 hole. IMO, the best move would be to leave Gooch at number 2 and just not ask him to give himself up so damn much. But knowing Ozzie, that has about zero change of happening. Yah. I'm not a big fan of having Juan in the 2 spot. Even if he has a better year (which I think almost everyone expects that he will), he is just way too streaky, and doesn't have a great OBP. Iguchi's OBP is pretty good, and having him and Pods back to back getting on base is important for Paul/Thome/Dye. I think it's safe to say that his BB numbers would improve in the 2 spot, but not by a whole bunch. There was a lot of stuff broken in our lineup this year, but the 2 spot wasn't one of them. I know Iguchi would have much better numbers and production in the 5 or 6 spot, but I don't thienk the difference is worth it. Ozzie seems intent on moving him down, though we'll see how long that lasts if Uribe gets off to a slow spot in the 2 hole.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 18, 2006 -> 02:11 PM) Eduardo Pérez is a much better bet to put up good numbers against lefties because of his ability to draw walks against them. José Hernández is just a strikeout machine. José Hernández (career vs. Left) 1,367 AB .263 AVG .322 OBP .488 SLG .810 OPS 121 BB 374 K Eduardo Pérez (career vs. Left) 697 AB .263 AVG .368 OBP .501 SLG .868 OPS 106 BB 133 K But like I said, other than the washed-up players they signed to minor league deals panning out, Eduardo Pérez was the only real improvement they made. Do these numbers include last year's numbers for Hernandez (.269 .288 .434 against lefties) in which he was extremely medicore against them, and thus bringing down his numbers a bit (especially that OBP)

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 18, 2006 -> 01:17 PM) Iguchi had a career year. Seriously though, Konerko had his best season ever but he should maintain that kind of performance. Dye also had his best season in years but staying healthy and hitting at the Cell should keep his numbers up. The worry is our bullpen. Cotts, Politte, and Hermanson all had massive career years. Eduardo Perez should be a massive improvement at first base against lefties over Jose Hernandez. But he's really the only improvement that the Indians made unless those washed-up guys like Graves, Karsay, and Hollandsworth have good seasons for them. Hernandez had very similar numbers to Perez against lefties coming into Cleveland. Perez got to beat up on a bunch of awful lefties in the AL East. No more. I expect him to have numbers a little bit better, but similar to Hernandez last year. And I was only talking about offense. I said pitching was likely to regress a little. Pretty much everybody on Cleveland's staff and bullpen had career years too. And Paul's numbers were similar to the year before.

I will agree that we were a little bit lucky with injuries and awesome bullpen performances (which led to all the 1-run leads), but I think we've more than made up for that having an entire (hopefully) year of awesome Contreras and Vasquez for the Duke and a better offense. You figure some guys numbers will improve. Uribe, Iguchi, AJ, all at least a little bit. Nobody really had a career year offensively last year. You would figure that we would have improved on offense just a little bit from that fact, but we added Thome in there. I do not agree that the Indians upgraded though. They aren't going to be as good pitching wise. They thought they had 1b fixed last year with Hernandez, who crushed lefties coming in, but then he wasn't all that good at all. The Twins upgraded the offense with Castillo a bit, but not nearly enough. Of course, either of those teams could knock us off for any number of reasons, but I don't think I would call it "likely" I would think there is a very good chance that the WC comes from the Central though.