jphat007

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 21, 2005 -> 08:32 PM) It's a good trade for Boston. Prospects are just prospects. They are not guaranteed to be good in the majors. And Hanley Ramirez's offensive numbers are hardly impressive. The Red Sox actually know that they are getting an ace-quality pitcher if he can stay healthy. Lowell could put up great numbers pulling cheap homers over the monster. 1. I'm not sure Beckett is an "Ace" pitcher in the AL. Probably high 3s ERA, especially in Boston. It's not bad by any means, but not great either. 2. Lowell sucks. I seriously doubt Boston wants to keep him at all. Additionally. Look at Beckett's splits last year. Away .261 .316 .434 .750 4.31 ERA away last year Away three year splits .263 BAA 4.10 ERA away Ace - Not so much. His home park numbers help him out tremendously.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Nov 21, 2005 -> 08:23 PM) I think you guys are way wrong. A steal for the Sox. If this were a fantasy trade, all the other owners would vote it down. This is bulls*** and I'm really pissed about it. Its one thing when the Yanks and the Sawx buy talent via FA but when they buy it like this it upsets me more. f*** LOL. Just like all those moves last offseason for important pitchers were big important moves for the Yanks right? We saw how that worked out. Josh Beckett = Jaret Wright = Carl Pavano. All in the same vein.

Beckett should be good for 3 or 4 DL visits this year.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Nov 20, 2005 -> 09:42 PM) Your 2006, Fourth place finishing, Chicago WHITE SOX! It wouldn't be in that order, but thats a fairly similar lineup to last year. I don't personally like it very much, and I wouldn't touch that deal, but it looks pretty much like last years lineup.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 19, 2005 -> 07:58 PM) They might. They want to improve their bullpen and dump payroll. That proposed trade would do both. We can hope anyway. That would be very, very nice.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Nov 19, 2005 -> 07:48 PM) Difference is Rowand will probably make less money than Pierre makes next season, and plays much better defense at (arguably) the most important defensive spot in the game. And yes, the defense is much better -- huge downgrade defensively from Rowand to Pierre, IMO. Oh, yeah -- and Rowand's line of .270/.329/.407 was almost the league average line. Considering that his numbers this year were well below his career line, that's somewhat encouraging. Cheat -- I hope your prediction comes through. Florida seems to want relief pitching, I wouldn't mind sending them two -- Vizcaino (if we still have control of him), Marte, and Rowand for Delgado. I can't imagine Florida would be crazy enough to do that deal.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Nov 19, 2005 -> 07:30 PM) No, it was Carl Everett. Yep. My bust. THats pretty crazy isn't it. We aren't gonna sign back our base hit run driver inner. Not that I would either. I'm gonna be pissed if our lineup plan is: Pods Guch Frank/other questionable (as in Frank) DH Dye Pier Rowand Crede Uribe Anderson though. Because I am NOT a big Anderson fan. At least not for next year's offense. A year after that maybe.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 19, 2005 -> 07:28 PM) What? I want to keep Podsednik. I want to have a 1-2 of Podsednik and Pierre. And why is 2004 the exception to the rule for Podsednik but 2005 isn't for Pierre? Once again, Pierre had 4 good seasons and only 1 bad one. But Podsednik is more consistent because he had 2 good seasons and 1 bad one? That kind of logic doesn't make much sense. Apparently, the Sox want to move Iguchi down to a more RBI producing role. Ozzie also likes to run a lot. That's why this move would make some sense. Also, I never said I wanted to traded Rowand for Pierre. I think trading Marte for Pierre would make more sense because the Marlins have always had interest in him. Then I could see packaging Rowand with some prospects for a #3 lefty hitter. Oh. Well if they are dumb enough to Marte and a prospect or 2 for Pierre I'm all for it. I'm not even that big of a Rowand fan, but i dont' like that straight up trade.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 19, 2005 -> 07:17 PM) Being a year and a half older is a difference, whether you think so or not. That's another 1.5 more years than Pierre that Podsednik will be past his prime. It's not a huge difference but it is a difference. Podsednik was a lot more terrible in 2004 than Pierre was this season. I guess by your logic, we should have never even traded for Podsednik. Take a look at their stats. Podsednik has had 2 good seasons and 1 bad one. Pierre has had 4 good seasons and 1 down year. LOL! Once again, take a look at Podsednik's 2004 stats. The difference is, when we traded for Pods we had no lead off hitter. We did take a gamble, but he showed that 2004 is likely the exception and not the rule. When he said he got pull heavy, he was telling the truth. Now, we don't NEED a 2 hitter. We have one in Iguchi. A VERY good one. Aaron at least drove in runs when the guys were out there. He just sucked when he was counted on to start a rally. So trading Aaron for Pierre would pretty much be a wash for our need, or a little bit of a loss, and when you throw in salary, we get screwed. NONNONONONONONONONONONONO And Pods is perfect for what we need, even though you don't like him.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 19, 2005 -> 07:00 PM) This is the key, in my opinion. Pierre's ability to be a great #2 hitter for us (getting on base, stealing bases, moving Pods over), which would also allow us to bat Iguchi sixth in a RBI producing role, would be better than Iguchi batting second and Rowand batting sixth. Basically, I think Pierre's offensive abilities outweigh Rowand's better defense and would mean more to a team managed by Ozzie. Ozzie wants to run a lot so he may as well be supplied with the right players to do so. It's better than seeing a guy like Uribe trying to steal and getting thrown out by a mile, when we all know it's going to happen because he's not a good base stealer. You are taking a big risk that Pierre doesn't absolutely suck again next year llike he did this year. He was horrible. Rowand at least played really good defense and knocked in runners with RISP (he was our best at it) Just say no to .276 .326 .354

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 19, 2005 -> 05:02 PM) Maybe it's because Pierre has had more good seasons, has better career numbers, and is a year and a half younger than Podsednik? Podsednik's career line: .279 .345 .385 Pierre's career line: .305 .355 .375 That age difference means nothing. And considering Pods led our team in hitting, and was a great leadoff man for the World Champs, it makes sense to build around him at the leadoff spot instead of going out and trading your centerfielder for a guy that McKean had to move out of the leadoff spot because he was so terrible. Plus, Pods is WAY WAY WAY cheaper than Pierre will probably ever be.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 19, 2005 -> 02:52 PM) I could see the Sox trading Pierre and trying to lock him up at to a favorable contract (and fair one) knowing that he's probably a more long term option at the top of the order than Pods. Why isn't Pods a long term option at the top of the order? And why in the world would Pierre be more of an option than him?

Ichiro's not going anywhere. Too much revenue for the Mariners.

QUOTE(hi8is @ Nov 18, 2005 -> 10:58 AM) you really think that anahiem will give him anything close to 5/75 nope... not i Exactly. It's his high proposal to everyone else's low proposal. The team that signs him will meet somewhere in the middle.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Nov 13, 2005 -> 12:15 PM) Giles -- 2005 OPS+ of 148, career average of 146. Abreu -- 2005 OPS+ of 123, career average of 138. But yeah, keep talking out of your ass. It's enjoyable for the rest of us. That's just talking about hitting. OPS+ helps tell what kind of hitter a player is, but far from tells what kind of PLAYER are. That being said, I'm not sure Giles isn't the better player. He is definitely not the all around player that Abreu is, but he probably is a little bit better hitter right at this point. But the other guy was talking about player. You are talking about hitter. No need to say stuff like "But yeah, keep talking out of your ass. It's enjoyable for the rest of us." Doesn't make you look too intelligent.

.276 .326 .354 Just say NO to that for 7 mil or so.

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 03:34 PM) I've heard very good things about him. Even though most Illini fans I know want him to fail, I've heard he's looked great in practice and has an excellent chance at starting sooner, rather than later. From what I've heard, he'll be starting opening night. Quentin Thomas has been extremely dissapointing. Frasor will probably be starting, and not necessarily because he's been lights out. It might be that he gets the spot by default over QT. I guess it just shows that rankings don't mean everything. Oh, and Carolina sucks. Even though we finished last in the ACC last year.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Nov 8, 2005 -> 09:49 PM) Ah, a question close to my heart (or maybe the opposite). Traitao was a good coach, but I would not consider him great. He was still growing and developing at DePaul, and I think he will continue to do so. He is a very good recruiter. He has an eye for talent. He found Dorell Wright before he became NBA material, and also Wilson Chandler who will be a freshman, who rose to become Mr. Michigan and a high-ranked recruit, among other. Our current freshman are a top 20 recruiting class. I thank him for that because Wainwright has had as much as weber so far. His offense is not good, to be honest. Last year the offense consisted of passing the ball around the perimeter with very little ideas of what to do with it. Then guys like Greer or Diener had to bail the team out and hoist up a shot. Sometimes it worked, but usually it didn't. Quemont was hot to start the season, but then he cooled off A LOT and resorted to throwing up ill-advised shots. If you like screens, cuts, give-and-go's, and inside-outside passing, Leitao's offense would have made you cringe last year. The defense was the key last year. Full blame goes to Leitao for DePaul not making the NCAA tournament last year. For the most part, they were able to beat the teams they should and lose to the better teams, but the few games that they lost to inferior (talent-wise) teams is what kept them out. All they needed to do was pull out ONE win out of two tries against UAB, a team not at the level talent-wise of DePaul, but one that played harder, smarter, had a much better game plan, and was better-coached. They lost both, and UAB took their spot in the Tournament. I was extremely disappointed by that. Leitao is young. He has room to improve. He is a solid recruiter, good defensive coach, but he needs a better game plan on offense. I am not bitter that he left because it did not seem like he wanted to be here in the first place. He was not very active in the city. I also do not blame him for taking the money that Virginia threw at him. Just be careful because it seems that he'll want the UConn job if given the opportunity and he is worthy of being a candidate when the time comes. Thanks for all the great info. It will be interesting to see how he does. He's already pulled in a couple of Top 100 kids, even though he got into the game really late on both (and he's close to getting another one in Will Harris) so he has definitely opened some eyes recruiting wise. People from both Depaul and UConn that I've heard from really mirrored what you said. Very good defensive coach with an emphasis on rebounding and defense and a questionable offensive coach. Runs a system similar to Calhoun's (well, its almost exactly the same) and it can be very stagnant at times. It'll be interesting to see what happens. We are all fairly excited about Dave, with some raising a few questions about his offense. If he has a good enough stay at UVa to where he would go to UConn when Calhoun steps down, I suppose that would mean he left us in pretty good straights so that would be okay. Thanks again for the info.

I have a question for Depaul fans. As a Virginia alum, and huge UVa basketball fan, I am interested in hearing your opinions about Dave Laiteo from a fans point of view. I've heard a lot about him from a media (mine) point of view, but I'd be interested to know a fans point of view. I followed him enough last year with the prospect of him being a candidate if Gillen was fired, and read enough to know that he is a no-nonsense coach who will have them rebounding and playing good defense. But what about offense? I saw some awfully low scores in Depaul's games from his team last year. Is it just because it's a ball control offense, or did you guys not have very many good offensive players beyond Greer and Diener (he was a shooter at least; and I hope I got those two players right). So in general. What did you think of him and what should we be expecting down here?

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 8, 2005 -> 10:15 AM) I wasn't expecting Loaiza to be a perennial Cy Young winner, but after that magical season he had with his cutter, I never thought he'd have the problems that he did the next season. Yah, but I think most people thought he would regress a little because the league had seen him with that cutter, and he just struggled with his location, which meant he had a bad, not terrible year. He bounced back with a pretty good year this year and I heard he wasnts like 3yrs, 8 mil a year or something. But the stuff of those two isn't comparable. Jose's stuff is so much better than Loaiza's. If he pitches like he did in the second half, the hitters know whats coming and still can't do anything with it. His stuff is too good. Now will he stay in that mindset all yaer? Who knows. But there is no reason to think he hasn't turned the corner mentally. He has all the confidence in the world now and really, that's all he needed.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Nov 8, 2005 -> 09:02 AM) IMHO & I think both KW & Ozzie support it: Mark, Freddy, & Jon are untouchables. They are the future of the staff. Jon has developed the mindset of big league pitcher & with AJP behind the plate looks to get even better. Freddy is our road warrior. He might very well be the most dependable road pitcher in the game today. Mark of course is a LH version of Greg Maddux. Filthy on the corners & great with off-speed stuff. That leave Contreras & El-Duque. Contreras' stock couldn't be any higher right now & that gives KW some major clout in these winter meetings. El-Duque's stock is probably a little higher as well because of his clutch post-season appearances. Contreras year is too similar to ELO's. It might be best to deal him on the upside they risk a slide in his last yr before FA. Contreras has some of, if not the BEST, stuff in the league. If he pitches with his head on straight, like we saw on the highest stage in the playoffs and the second half, then he will be one of the dominating pitchers in the league the next couple of year. All he had to do was gain confidence and a pitching rhythm (good catcher and pitching coach) to go along with that stuff. I doubt he will be anything like ELo. If he concentrates the whole year and really works hard he could have an ERA below 3 and be one of the dominating pitchers in the game. We need to lock him up, not think about giving him away.

INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!

Throw a curve with a base open.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 26, 2005 -> 09:55 PM) I get the feeling Rowand doesn't like Jenks. He's had some issues in CF with him on the mound. Its tough for an outfielder behind a guy like him, because if you get decent wood on a fastball like that it will travel. But you will aslo get jammed. and give up bloopers.

I hope thats the last time I see us hit this year. Though saying that is a little bittersweet.