jphat007

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:40 PM) Compared with what they've had recently at 2nd base, Castillo is a massive addition for this team. The Twins definitely traded from a position of strength, which is their bullpen. Oh yah. No question its an upgrade over Rivas and Punto. They sucked. And they did trade from bullpen, even though it was a good prospect. They need run producers though. Not run setter-uppers.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:34 PM) And Boston's stacked lineup didn't help Graffanino's numbers? By the way, Castillo will likely lead off for the Twins with Stewart batting second so what does it matter if you don't like him in the 2-hole or not? I doubt that. Stewart is their leadoff hitter, and even if he did, thats fine too, he's no threat on teh bases and he won't get on base at a .291 clip again. Graffy wasn't hitting in front of Manny and Ortiz, though the one day he did he went 3-4 with an rbi and a walk , for one thing, for another thing I was looking at Pods, not Graffy. Nice try though.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:29 PM) Why are you comparing Graffanino's 2005 stats to Castillo's career stats? Graffanino (2005 stats): .309 .366 .425 .791 Castillo (2005 stats): .301 .391 .374 .765 Graffanino put up those numbers in one season. Castillo has put up his line consistently. I would put my money on Castillo to repeat his line way before gambling on Graffanino to do the same. Castillo has done it before. Graffanino hasn't. I'd bet both players come down from those lines a little big, in similar fashion, and I'd still take Tony G. over Castillo in the 2 hole.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:23 PM) Castillo doesn't steal much these days, has posted much better OBP over the years, and plays much better defense at his respective position than Podsednik does at his. Castillo put up a .391 OBP last season. That's much, much better than Podsednik's .351 OBP. I don't see much of a comparison other than the fact that neither hits for any power whatsoever. First, .391 is with Cabrera and Delgado behind him. Second, .351 is with Iguchi (in his first year) and Everett behind him. Plus Pods OBP was closer to .375 when he wasn't hurt, and August was obviously the exception to the rule when looking at his numbers. Next, I'm not talking anything about defense, jsut hitting. And SB, and messing up the pitchers etc. , are a big part of being a leadoff hitter, so it's probably good that Castillo isn't batting leadoff in that sense. Castillo's just too much of a tweener to me. Doens't have a really good position in the lineup. I mean, that OBP is gonna be really nice in the 2 spot for them, though I doubt he gets anywhere near .391 without Cabrera and Delgado behind him. Castillo's a good hitter, really patient hitter, just not a guy I'd want in the 2 hole necessarily, especially if my 3 and 4 don't have much power.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:22 PM) Luis Rivas has more value than Luis Castillo I agree with everything you said except this. We can hope it, but it's not coming true. Rivas sucks.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:17 PM) Do you honestly think that skewed the stats that much? Come on. Castillo plays better defense, is a better hitter, and has more speed than Graffanino. There's really no comparison. Hell yes I think it skews it that much. You can't get in any kind of hitting rhythm pinch hitting every once in awhile and playing one day a week. It's tough to do. The more relevent question is if I want .309 .366 .425 .791 .293 .370 .356 .726 for the two hole. And the answer is simple to me. Like I said, you'll see. Oh yah, plus Castillo's speed and burst are gone. He's still fast obviously, but nothing like he was.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:13 PM) So you'd rather have a 1-2 of Pods/Graffanino than Sizemore/Castillo? Haha. Uh, no. But I'd rather have Pods/Graff instead of Iguchi/Pods, Castillo/Pods or something of that sort. Castillo is a Pods type player with much fewer strikeouts, which as I said many times in our discussion, that I HATE anywhere but the leadoff spot. If you slug under .400 you shouldn't be allowed to hit anywhere but leadoff. Haha.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:13 PM) Graffanino: .268 career AVG, .336 career OBP Castillo: .293 career AVG, .370 career OBP There's really no comparison. Just because Graffanino had a career year last season, it changes nothing. Look at the above numbers and try to say that with a straight face. I am going by the times where he was an everyday player. You can't look at his career stats when he was a PH and once a week player for most of his career. At that point you have to go to the only reference you can as an everyday player. You'll see though.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:09 PM) Rebuilding is kind of exciting in a way if you do it wisely. Just my opinion. If by exciting you mean losing a lot, sure. There is a lot less stress on your life though. Expectations are so low that you can only do better. They are going to get run over in that division though. Gonna be scary.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 02:07 PM) Castillo's also a better hitter than Graffy is. I don't think Graffy is an every day player, as his short swing seems to get longer when he plays more than 3 or 4 days in a row. I'd rather have Graffy as a No. 2 than Castillo though. And Castillo has Pods like numbers with RISP. I've always thought Graffy could be a good everyday player if given the chance. He showed it with Boston, and when he was starting everyday with KC. I would give him a day off a week against the toughest righty though.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 01:55 PM) Castillo is a much, much better defensive player than Tony G. fixed. He'd be a much better leadoff hitter too if that means anything.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 01:49 PM) Haha, that's what I was going to write in my last post. I'm not worried about Frank's production for another team like the Twins. I just wouldn't want to see him playing for the Twins. Frank or not, we would still be better than them. Oh yah. It'd be sick. I dispise the Twins, even though they sucked last year.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 01:46 PM) I agree with you. I wonder why they didn't want Graffanino? I do like their new 1-2 of Castillo and Stewart if they stay healthy. They still need a power-hitting DH though. I just hope it's not a healthy Frank Thomas. Let it be DH. I love Frank but it would be a horrible investment for a team like that. He's pretty much going to do nothing but try and hit homeruns. No good BA, no moving runners along, and I don't think he'll take as many walks. He has his ring, now he wants 500 HR, and he is going to do nothing but swing for the downs everytime up there, as he is said. At least he is honest about it. The Twins need power, but not at the expense of that other stuff. Frank would be a nice addition for a team, but if you are looking for him to be your all around great hitter these days, its not going to happen. Especially considering the fact that he might not be able to play more than a month or two.

YES!!!! THank goodness. Juan Pierre would have been a terrible fit. Thank you Yankees!!!!!

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 2, 2005 -> 01:33 PM) It was pretty much a steal. Bowyer is the only good player going to the Marlins and he's still just a reliever. Tyler is a nobody. Why would the Marlins pick up any of Castillo's contract? It was mostly a salary dump. I would have not traded anyone and picked up Tony G. or Mark G. for less. Thats just me though. But I'm glad the Twins did it their way. It's a decent 1-2-3. Though Stewart's always hurt, even if he plays, and Mauer doesn't hit for high power. Though to be fair, nobody on that team does.

Decent move for the Twinks. Surprising that Florida got them to give up Bowyer. Many, many teams wanted him. Figure they could have gotten more salary chewed or something, even with all the other good 2B available to sign, especially nwo that he is taking up 5 more million of an already small payroll. They are going to need a lot more than Castillo though. He doesn't run anymore. Has zero power for a #2 hitter, not even doubles power. It'll be interesting to see what his numbers look like without Delgado and Cabrera behind him. Oh yah. Thank goodness they didn't sign Tony G. He kills us on offense. I thought thats who they'd get. And I think we used up all of our luck with him in the field

I love baseball.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 1, 2005 -> 01:45 PM) I think if the Sox are seriously looking to sign Bill Mueller, the health of Crede's back must not be looking too good. You would think that would be the case. It's strange that we didn't hear anything about it in the playoffs though. I'm kind of leary about signing a guy like Mueller though, because if you do, someobody is probably going to be pissed off if they all stay healthy for the year. I would imagine neither Bill or Joe plans on having less than 450+ at bats this year, and if they are both healthy, even with a DL stint or two, that would just be impossible to make happen.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 1, 2005 -> 11:23 AM) I heard the report again. Bruce Levine said that the Dodgers and Twins are both also interested in Mueller. He said that the Sox want Mueller to back up 3B, 2B, and 1B and get 400-500 at bats. He would also serve as protection for Crede and his bad back. I would like this signing because we would have a great starting 3rd baseman if Crede misses time and we would also be screwing over the Twins. He wouldn't get anywhere near 400-500 ABs as a backup would he? Even if he played a couple of times a week. I mean even Juan only had 481 last year. This isn't really directed at you, just thinking out loud.

QUOTE(Steff @ Nov 30, 2005 -> 04:01 PM) Just a tad bit cockey about the hip situation... :rolly Sounded to me like he wants to get it out of the way so he doens't have to go through it everyday that he has a bad day or if he's in a slump.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 30, 2005 -> 01:18 PM) That's really not the right way to look at it in my opinion but it was still well worth it either way. Well. We had to trade Haigwood and Gio to get the money, and we needed the money to resign PK. One doesn't happen without the other. If its just Aaron for Thome, there is no money, so there is no PK. Seems simple to me!! Go PK and go KW!!!!

So now the Thome deal is official. Thome for Rowand PK for Haigwood and Gio. GOOD DEAL KENNY!!!!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Nov 29, 2005 -> 09:04 PM) So what now? What if he's right and PK is gone? What's a backup plan? He didn't say anything about PK being gone. He said the Angels offered 5/65 and PK was going to make a decision on if he wanted to take that this week. And that was on Sunday.

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 29, 2005 -> 03:07 PM) Very likely, but since we've traded them, I don't think it's really possible for the Sox to get Overbay now. If KW traded them for Overbay I would be disgusted.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 29, 2005 -> 03:02 PM) I think they would have taken Gio Gonzalez and Daniel Haigwood for him. Of course they would. WHo wouldn't for an overrated first baseman. OVerbay is a good OBP guy. Thats about it. Both Geoff Jenkins and Bill Hall had better numbers than him. He's a good OBP guy and can hit a few doubles. THats about it.