sircaffey

Personally, I think Carter will be the the biggest loss especially with the power we look to lose in the next few years.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Feb 23, 2009 -> 11:41 PM) Again, we had one last year and I liked it so i'm starting a new one. I understand cleveland added derosa and wood, and anything they get from hafner and martinez would be an upgrade over what they got last year, but who is going to start for that team?? Right now Lee and Carmona are a good 1,2 ...but after that right now they have Reyes (who got knocked around in a bad NL central, despite that 1 hit loss he threw vs. us in 06?...thome HR was the diff) Laffey, Sowers? Laffey was good to start last year but just plummeted after the break, and sowers stinks...Carl Pavano hasn't had a good full year in like 5 years too and cant be counted on for more than 5 starts IMO The more I think about it, the more I like the twins in the division. They'll get Cuddyer back for a full season, Kubel is coming into his own, Mauer and Morneau are Mauer and Morneau. Plus you'd think that Young and Span would continue to get better (though I could see Span regressing a bit). Either way, the pitching will get a full year of a healthy liriano, plus slowey and baker should get better. And blackburn and perkins are certainly as solid as any 4,5 in the division David Huff should make that rotation for CLE. Minnesota is the clear favorite for me.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 05:03 PM) THAT's exactly how the DH spot should be used, with a player that can give other players a day off from the field. I don't know why it seems like no one gets it. Having a player like Thome takes away valuable flexibility. I'd probably rather still have Swisher than Thome, to be honest, only because Swisher can play 1B/RF/LF/and a little CF. Wilson Betemit, and those 4 other guys that don't start everyday.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 03:16 PM) He may contribute a good power bat to the batting order, but all his contributions are negated because of his inability to play a position on the field. I'd rather have an aging player that can still play the field as a DH, even if it means they won't produce as much with their bat. Instead of Thome, I'd rather have a DH similar to Milton Bradley, Ty Wigginton, Adam Dunn, Rich Aurilia, Jerry Hairston Jr., and even Carl Everett, just to name a few. The player batting at DH doesn't have to be a flashy big bopper, what really matters is if they complete the team on the positional depth chart. No it's not. That's why you have a bench. DH is a starting position just like everything else. You don't need a starting CF who can play 1B. You don't need a starting 1B who can play SS. You want to maximize the value out of every starting position. DH is merely an offensive position, thus you want the best offensive player you can get at that position regardless of his defensive ability. If there was not a bench, you would have a point.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 12:47 PM) There's 2 issues. First, not every solid setup man makes a good closer (See: LaTroy Hawkins as the classic example. Or Linebrink last year for us). Second, when you have a solid setup man and you turn him in to a closer...you still need to be able to get the ball to the closer in the first place. Marmol isn't just a solid setup man. He's filthy. The type of filthy that he can throw the ball over the heart of the plate and get swing-and-misses. He's in a league above Hawkins and Linebrink ever were. Short of an Ankiel episode, Marmol is going to make a fantastic closer. It's a double edged sword either way. You keep Marmol in the 7/8th you're going to need someone to pitch the 9th. I'll take Marmol in the 9th with the option of pitching the 8th. Even if you give up the lead in the 7th and 8th, you're going to come back and win more of those games than if you blow it in the 9th.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 11:52 AM) The argument could be made that Marmol is the best set-up man in the League, so yeah, making him the closer is an atrocious decision on the Cubs parts. Most of the great closers today started off as great setup men. Once upon a time, Mariano Rivera was the league's best setup man. Likewise for K-Rod. Seemed to work out ok.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 11:28 PM) Didn't Penn State beat illanoy 38-34 in football, im just saying 38-24...God I hate Illinois.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 10:43 PM) What? He DH'd 90% of the time. Man it must be tough to swing a bat. Yeah because in between games he just lays around on the couch watching re-runs of Seinfeld...

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 08:04 PM) The only relevance of this trade was financial reasons. By the time the Bulls are good enough to matter, Brad Miller will be good old or on another team, and John Salmons is a journeyman having a career year who turns 30 in 10 months. It's a fitting Paxson type move, some noise with minimal to no relevance. I understand that this move along with perhaps moving Kirk Hinrich tomorrow puts the Bulls in better position for the summer of 2010, but do YOU trust John Paxson to make the big, good moves then? I don't. Hopefully he'll be gone though. They're purging the roster so that Paxson can leave the team in a good position. I seriously doubt he last until 2010.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 06:38 PM) didn't he also play some first base? might not be a bad option, esp. if Broussard doesn't pan out. LoDuca=Danny DeVito. He should be no where near 1B.

QUOTE (scenario @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 01:14 PM) But I guess guys like JD Drew, Mike Lowell, David Ortiz, Posada, Jeter, ARod, Damon, Matsui, Derrek Lee, Soriano, Eric Byrnes, Carlos Delgado, Maggs (and most of Detroit's roster), Vlad, Torii Hunter, the list goes on and on... (who btw are all older than either Paulie or AJ)... don't age. Almost all of those teams have at least 2 young established run producers, so age isn't as much of a concern for those teams (except the Angels who have never really needed much offense to win). That's why it's not mentioned as much. Outside of those 3, the Sox have Carlos and Alexei both modest question marks going into next season, and outside of them serious question marks. No one like Youkilis/Pedroia, Texeira/Nady, Reyes/Wright, Granderson/Cabrera ...etc. Age concerns will dissipate once Quentin, Ramirez, and Beckham establish themselves, but until then, the age concerns are justified.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:38 AM) There's nothing wrong with a predicting a bad year for the Sox so long as you have an actual reason to do so. If he'd said the Sox don't have the SP depth to win I'd be fine with that. But he says Quentin is the only up-and-coming position player the Sox have and doesn't know that Betemit is a UT player. He doesn't know who Dayan Viciedo is either, and he says Paulie is on the way down like he's been on top of some mountain for the last two years. What's he going to do, hit .212? If I had been tasked with writing a prediction for say the San Diego Padres, the least I'd do is go to their MLB page and read a few stories to find out what's going on. The dude wrote this without even thinking of doing any real research into the matter and comes off like an idiot as a result. How much time does it take to read a couple of Scott Merkin's mailbags? If I may be Canadian for a moment, what a hoser... First, he mentioned a Fields/Betemit platoon. You know where they split time. Josh has a TON to prove, especially the ability to hit RHP which is was god awful at in the famed 2007 season so many sox fans point to. Betemit very well could see significant time at 3B vs RHP. As for Viciedo, many people around baseball don't believe he's going to step right in and be a starter in his first season.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:32 AM) Hah, we fans will rip the hamburgers out of our team all day and night long. And that's fine. But when an OUTSIDER does it for us, well that's when the hamburger really hits the fan! What a no-good, know-nothing, fat, pathetic loser! White Sox fans have become fairly noteworthy for writing in and harassing these writers for unfavorable predictions... Amen. Other than not mentioning Alexei, I see nothing wrong with what this guy wrote. In fact, he may be giving the rotation too much credit.

Jenks: 3.50 ERA, 40 IP, 20K, 2 trips to the DL Floyd: 9-13, 4.50 ERA Konerko: .290-40-100

I'll take Willie as a supersub, but his season, at least in my eyes, was rather flukish. I'd rather go with Anderson and see if he can put it together as Willie offers nothing in terms of future value.

I don't think there's much faith in that organization that Duke can last a whole season. The guys messed up in the head. Though now will Willingham and Dunn you've got 2 horrendous defensive outfielders. I think this is just the case of, we've got money to spend might as well spend it and try to sell the fans on something.

If the Sox could get Abreu for $3 million, I'm sure they would be much more willing to send money with Dye. They could still dump $5 million in salary by trading Dye and picking up a significant portion of his contract. This was something that wasn't possible when Abreu was reportedly seeking $10 million.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 01:26 PM) A young pitcher already showing a penchant for injuries for a stud slugger? No thanks And Quentin's been as healthy as an ox... Felix has made 31, 30, and 31 starts the past 3 seasons.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 10:43 AM) It makes more sense than the Sox wanting a 10 million dollar 5-14 Washburn thrown in with Morrow for TCQ. Obviously the rumor is really about the Twins and Young. I'm just trying to guess what KW is up to if the Abreu offer is true. Man, when is spring training?

Although this proposal is hogwash, I'd love to get Morrow. The man's a stud.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 04:54 PM) Dont know your history very well do you. Either that or you were throwing s*** against the wall hoping it would stick. People talk about that team because back then they had alot of power basically spread across 2 players, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig who combined for 107 HR's with Lazzeri adding the only other double digit total with 18. That team had a good amount of high avg line drive hitters. Of course if you knew about the 27 Yanks then you knew that one of the most important players on that team and for 11 years of Yankee terror was Earle Combs who led off and played CF. He also is a HOF'er in case you were wondering. For his career he had an OBP of .397 and hit .325. He also had good speed which helped him avg 17 triples a season (he ranks 48th all time). He was also a plus defender in the era of giant outfields. So in short, wrong. I was pretty much just joking. Thanks for the history lesson, you probably saw each game that year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 04:16 PM) Of course it has more to do with it, but name me one World Series winner since its inception that hasnt had speed on its roster. Our lineup as currently constructed is not as balanced as it could be. 1927 Yankees.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 10:53 AM) Here's another option: Konerko for Figgins (CF/3B and leadoff) Abreu signed Viciedo/Allen/Betemit share 1B Yadel Marti/Looper/Randy Wolf signed as 5th starter Wouldn't that be an arguably stronger team (as long as you're not convinced Poreda/Marquez will win AL ROY)? The one disavantage is you have a lot of pressure on Fields, Viciedo/Allen and Getz/Lillibridge, but that's the bottom 3 of your line-up. Where does everyone play in that example? Thome-DH, Viciedo/Allen/Betemit-1B, Quentin-LF, Dye-RF, Abreu-?

Hudson was on MLB Network's Hot Stove show, and listed the teams that he's talked to. It did not include the White Sox.

We'll need the improved defense in CF to make up for the downgrades in other areas.