sircaffey

QUOTE(SoxWS05 @ Mar 10, 2008 -> 01:54 PM) Crede is 29, hardly old. The average age of the Red Sox is 30.2. I wasn't calling Joe Crede old... Sorry, "little ole Joe Crede."

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 10, 2008 -> 01:40 PM) And their agents aren't Scott Boras. Seriously, that's the only point that really needs to be made and understood to end this debate. Also, if two of the all-time best Sox players, Maggs and Frank, aren't going to be resigned due to health concerns, little old Joe Crede won't be (and shouldn't be).

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 10, 2008 -> 01:38 PM) I strongly disagree. I am all for the Fields era to begin, but, Fields has yet to reach even Crede's rookie defensive level. Josh may eventually be a pretty good defender over there - at least adequate anyway. But he isn't now, nor will he ever be (probably), as good as Crede defensively If not worse, very comparable. Joe's .938 FPCT in his first half season left much to desire much like Fields first half season (Josh-.958). Joe's second and third seasons .964 and .965. Crede may have a little more range, but to call Fields' defense "brutal" is a bit of an exaggeration especially when considering he'll most definitely improve this next season.

QUOTE(SoxWS05 @ Mar 10, 2008 -> 01:27 PM) I've touched on each one of those in previous posts in this thread. Like I said, If healthy, offer a contract and if he signs, trade Fields. In that order. I'll take inconsistent offense over un-proven offense and brutal defense. Funny because when Crede was at the point Josh is in his career, Joe's defense was WORSE than Josh's.

QUOTE(SoxWS05 @ Mar 10, 2008 -> 01:02 PM) Ohh give me a F---ing break. Frank Thomas? He was with the team for over 15 years, bad example. The others are 5 players you picked from the last 20 years, every organization in sports can pick 5 players over the last 20 years that have traded their own. How about more recent players like Buehrle and Konerko, they took somewhat of a discount to stay with the organization. I think if you made a reasonable offer to Crede for like 4 years- 28 million he would take it. This would be the best thing they could do. He plays better then good defense, it GG caliber D and watching Fields boot balls last season should make everyone apprecitate how important Joe is at 3B. Let me see...Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez, Ray Durham, Jon Garland (technically no, but they put a lot of time into him), Miguel Olivo... Yep, the Sox never let their own talent go. And all of the above players except Olivo, were much much better than Joe Crede and didn't have a highly touted prospect pushing them out.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Mar 6, 2008 -> 04:58 PM) If healthy Crede is the better player and should be traded if it nets you something. Younger players are blocked all of the time and Fields may be blocked this year. It is not going to hurt him or the team if Crede is healthy it'd be nice to see what he could do this year but a healthy Crede is better than Fields at this point in time so you do not give Crede away just so Fields can play. Fields may hit 30 HR and K 160 times this year and make 20 errors He could do this at AAA this year and next year hit 30 HR K 100 times and make 12 errors while Crede produces for the Sox this year and nets a pick or two next June at worst. Josh Fields is not a sure thing and Crede is a better player at this time. Crede missed almost all of last year. Also, you can not assume that just because he's healthy, his skills are 100% what they were before the major surgery. Add that with the long break from baseball activity and Joe is going to hurt this team more than help it for a good portion of the season.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Mar 2, 2008 -> 09:11 PM) imo, indiana's recent performances are unrelated to the sampson stuff. i've watched a lot of iu basketball this year, and to me they've been pretty much the same team all year. to me, their only (borderline) quality road win is at siu, but outside of that they have not beat an even decent team on the road. it's vogue to relate it to the sampson stuff, but this has been a stagnant team most of the season. a favorable schedule has fostered a favorable record. I refuse to believe the Sampson stuff hasn't been somewhat of an issue. If you compare the 3 games prior to Sampson resigning and the 3 games after, there is a clear difference. Perhaps it's just coincidence, but I don't think so. IU struggling at Northwestern, then struggling at home vs Ohio State, and getting crushed at Michigan State after treating them like a red-headed stepchild 2 weeks prior is just odd. I mean, 103 points vs Michigan State? That just doesn't happen. The defense has really taken a step back since Sampson left. Mentally, this team isn't right. I think it's pretty clear actually.

Berkman/Billingsley

QUOTE(max power @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 07:58 AM) I think he got it backward. See Contreras. Contreras is a 40 year old not a mid 20's SP like Willis or Bonderman or a SP in the "prime years" like Robertson (30 yrs old). Slight difference.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in '05 @ Feb 26, 2008 -> 11:06 PM) Okay I'll still take Danks over Willis at this point. Is that better? I hope you're right.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in '05 @ Feb 26, 2008 -> 10:25 PM) When you start comparing players their salaries are brought into account. At least thats the way I look at it. We're comparing player performance not player value. Salaries don't skew the statistics.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in '05 @ Feb 26, 2008 -> 08:04 PM) I wouldn't. Willis could easily put up a 5 ERA and gets paid, what 10 million? No thanks. What does contract status have to do with who will be more effective next season?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Feb 26, 2008 -> 07:17 PM) I would take Danks over Willis, but Willis over Floyd I think. I can understand that. I'm high on Danks too, but I don't think we'll see as much consistency as we'd like. I don't think we'll see more than 160 IP out of him. That's why I'd give the nod to Willis. Quality wise I see them producing similarly, but quantity wise it won't be close.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in '05 @ Feb 26, 2008 -> 04:36 PM) If you got my point you would've known I wasn't telling you whose on the team. Willis' ERA has gone up since 05, Robertson had a bad year compared to what? His entire career besides one year? Actually if they were on the sox people would be b****ing more. No one here wants Willis or Rogers. Robertson and Bonderman were both trending positively each year of their careers. Each year improving consistently until taking a step back last season. Last season doesn't fit in line with how their careers have gone. I would gladly substitute Willis for either Danks or Floyd this upcoming season. Gladly.

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 26, 2008 -> 01:00 AM) He's your worst pitcher IMO. Pence is going to be a real sleeper this year. Pence a sleeper? Tough to be a sleeper after the year he had last season. If anything, he's probably a little overvalued.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in '05 @ Feb 25, 2008 -> 09:36 PM) DTrain will be inconsistent. Roberts has had one season with an ERA under 4 and has never won more than 13 games. Rogers' arm is about to fall off and Bonderman needs to get it back together. Their bullpen has Todd Jones as their closer with Zumaya out until at least the all-star break. That doesn't include rehab. Rodney hit a bump in the road last season and is experiencing some more injuries. A lot of their big pieces have question marks. If their pitching is bad they're going to have to outslug everyone. That usually doesn't work, see yankees. Thank you, I know who's on the team. I just don't think their pitching will be as bad as a lot of people here think. Willis, Robertson, Bonderman, and Rodney all had down years last season. If they were on the Sox, a lot of people would be proclaiming bounce-back seasons. Since they aren't on the Sox, they are considered bad players. I expect all to be much better than they were last season.

I think their pitching is going to surprise a bunch of people.

I do believe we ended up with Aaron Gray from the JR Smith trade as we got 2 2007 2nd round picks and Howard Eisley for Smith. (We sent our 2007 2nd round pick to Portland in the Thomas/Aldridge swap. We used the second 2nd round pick on JamesOn Curry.)

From a Sam Smith Tribune column last month: "Why does John Paxson get a free pass for trading J.R. Smith and getting exactly nothing for him? I am sure he is not a Skiles/Paxson guy, but I think that quality is overrated. By my account, he was given to Denver and the Bulls have zero to show for it. Are the Bulls here to win games or pass judgment on character? --David Cox, Chicago I can't say I disagree. The Bulls are loaded with guards and Smith never would have played. Who are you going to sit, Gordon? Hinrich? And Sefolosha eventually will be the bigger defensive guard they need. I'm interested to see how Smith does with Anthony and Iverson firing now. It's not like I heard a lot of people saying the team had to keep him after the trade. The fact is there are some issues with the guy; he's already stated he doesn't like to get up early to come to practice and character does matter. Not for the sake of judging someone or making the world better, but you need people you can count on and are reliable. Smith had not shown any of that with the Hornets and I'm interested to see what happens now with Anthony and Iverson running everything in Denver." In addition to what Sam said, Smith butted heads with Byron Scott which is a reason why they traded him. Smith was also suspended 10 games earlier this season for starting a brawl with the Knicks. He's a nut.

Smith had off court issues in addition to attitude problems well before the trade. He's also not a very good defensive player. All this led to him not fitting in. Personally, I think Skiles was behind Smith's trading. He's talented, but he's troubled or at least was at the time of the trade.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 22, 2008 -> 06:50 PM) The difference is, Ben Wallace only attempts about 5 shots a game, shooting around 37%. Hughes shoots the same percentage, and attempts around 12-13 shots a game. That doesn't include the airballs that Ben throws up on free throws...Ben Wallace is easily the worst offensive player in the NBA. The worst.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Feb 22, 2008 -> 08:59 AM) http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/ This is guy is going to love Ben Wallace. At least he'll be able to keep his website in tact. Perhaps change it to heybenwallacepleasestoptakinganyshots.com. It fits.

Best: Quentin Worst: Garland (it was bad when it was made, and it's worse now that Cabrera won't be able to take full advantage of what he's good at (being a #2 hitter))

Hughes and Wallace should both benefit from the trade. Hughes was never a good fit for CLE. As a 2 G, he should be much better, imo. To me, I think the Bulls are better for this season, and much better in future years because of this trade. Our bench is now sickening. Gordon, Nocioni off the bench?! No team in the east can match them from the bench. We should score a lot more points with Hughes. I like what I've seen from Gray and Noah recently. We still have no low post offense, but we're still pretty good down there defensively, and with the offense that our guards should provide, we are a very dangerous team. I love the defense Hinrich and Hughes will bring to the backcourt, as well. Hinrich, Hughes, Deng, Gooden, Noah w/ Gordon, Nocioni, Duhon, Thabo, Gray, and TT off the bench. I like it.

QUOTE(JFields27 @ Feb 21, 2008 -> 04:49 PM) Good Trade. We had to get Wallace out of here, in fact Paxson had to get him out of here or thats where his job was heading too. Along with Tyrus and Noah, this opens a lot of playing time for Aaron Gray who is pretty much our only real big guy. When all healthy this gives us a backcourt of Thabo-Hinrich-Hughes-Duhon-Gordon-Brown, hey that should be our starting lineup one game Thabo playing C, back on topic -- Small Forwards Deng, Nocioni, -- Power Forwards Noah, TT, Simmons(who I think makes this deal overall) and Gray downlow Potential Player I see that could leave next off-season would be Duhon and/or Gordon ... idk if I am by myself here but since the JimBo took over I think Thabo has been playing pretty damn good. Thabo is a suitable sub for either Hinrich or Hughes after this deal. Once again we are back to the days before Wallace where we complained about having no C, and are rich in the guard section. I think these will be the first two lineups we see with the deal Gray-Noah-Nocioni-Hughes-Hinrich & Noah-Thomas-Nocioni-Hughes-Hinrich When Gordon comes back he better be a-ok holding down that bench position cause he wont be seeing any starting time for a while and when Deng gets back then Nocioni becomes a great guy to come in for the 3 or 4 position. Why is Gooden not in any of this?