Rowand44

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 5, 2008 -> 01:38 AM) Hey, I don't really think the Angels are an ideal partner anymore, but any deal that involves Santana and one of Kendrick/Figgins is fine with me. I'd prefer Kendrick over Figgins because of age and the pure ability. The one key is whether Matthews JR would actually be considered a negative trade chip (from the Angels perspective) in the sense that the Angels would give up more just to be rid of Sarge Jr. Plus if the Sox dealt Konerko and got Matthews Jr, leadoff hitter (Willits or Figgins or Kendrick), Santana (or Saunders), and cash (depending on who the guys are the Sox got, they would possibly need cash) I would be happy. I know Matthews Jr. has a horrid contract and it is a major risk, but I think it would be worth it to get the extra pitcher and a legit top of the order bat. I would obviously ask for either Kendrick or Saunders (if I didn't get Kendrick than I'd take Santana, but if I didn't get Kendrick and instead got Willits I'd try to pry Saunders because he is further away from FA). Defensively I would like an outfield with Quentin/Matthews JR/Dye (in fact flip flop Dye and Quentin with Dye in LF and that is a damn good defensive outfield). Swisher at 1B and Figgins plays 2B. Again I'm not saying it happens but who knows, maybe the Sox deal Crede in the package as well to get rid of his contract. Again, without the Sox getting one of the Angels big money outfielders I don't see a deal going down. But I'd love it if a couple of those names came the Sox way that is for sure. I'm pretty much right there with you on this whole idea. I just don't think there is any possible way we could get Kendrick away from them.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 5, 2008 -> 01:21 AM) Kendrick, Santana, Figgins would be a stellar move. In fact, Kendrick, Santana, Willits would work completely fine with me (or anyone else for that matter). Hell if the Sox had to throw something else in so be it. Alright man, time to get out of dream world.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 03:20 PM) Nick Swisher is my favorite White Sox already. Sorry Mark. Pssh. Go team Buehrle.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 12:58 PM) Ok. Reword it, whatever. Willis should be an upgrade over the crap they had in 4/5 spot last season and Bonderman/Robertson should be better after down years last season. So 60% of the rotation should be improved. Robertson and Bonderman were pretty much at their career averages. A little bit worse but it's not like they were completely awful compared to what they normally are.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 10:43 AM) Well Jumpin Joe Cowley is on greasing the wheels. Joe just stated he thinks that Crede will be the starter and Fields will be in the minors. How f***ed up is that. 23 homers, over 60 RBIs projecting to well over 30 and he will go down. Laughable. Ya, that better not happen.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 10:46 AM) i like bonderman, they pushed the kid up when he was very young and he had growing pains. Last year he was up and down, but I think he IS closer to the 06 bonderman than the 07. He's had ups and downs in every season. He's got a great arm, he just hasn't put it all together yet, who knows if he ever will. I agree pretty much completely with Wite's post besides on Willis as I think he's going to get absolutely lit up in the American league. Detroits rotation is shaky, ours is a little more so.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 08:22 AM) major league level. Quentin, Ramirez, Swisher, Richar, Floyd, Danks... add in home grown talent like Fields, Owens, some of the bullpen pieces like Logan, Wassermann... And outside of Swisher and to a lesser extent Fields, none of those guys are proven either. There's the problem, we have some decent young talent at the major league level and absolutely ZERO depth at the minor league level. Obviously the odds are against a lot of these guys and while losing the talent of a Gio or DLS hurts just individually, losing both hurts our pitching depth big time. Pitching was the one area in this organization where we seemed to have a little bit of depth, now that took quite the hit.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 09:13 AM) Swisher >>>>> Rowand. That is all. Offensively. It still seems like we have absolutely no clue how good he is defensively at one of the more important positions in baseball.

The rotation is definitely the true concern of this team. I like the way the bullpen and lineup look but the rotation just looks bad to me. I have absolutely no faith in JC and the odds of at least one of Floyd/Danks being bad are pretty damn good imo. If we could land a legit 3rd starter, I'd feel so much better about this team.

QUOTE(Brian @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 09:32 PM) Agreed. I never liked Letterman. When Conan takes over for Leno, Conan will kill in the ratings. QUOTE(Sonik22 @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 12:05 AM) God i cant wait til Conan takes over! He is so much more fun to watch than every other late night show. He's hilarious! I absolutely love Conan but it'll be interesting to see how he goes over with the older group when he gets the earlier time slot.

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 02:04 AM) quiet the big 10 fans must be sleeping....I would rather have Todd Reesing or Chase Daniels over Juice Williams any day of the week. I'm sure everyone in the country is with you on that one.

Congrats to Kansas, I honestly thought they had 0 shot.

QUOTE(juddling @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 03:58 PM) I"m not comparing Gio and Ring talentwise...but comparing what was said about each when they were traded. I admit, i don't follow the minors that closely but when Royce was traded i thought we were trading away a future All-star with the doom and gloom reaction of some on this board. It's the same now with Gio and/or DLS. These guys are prospects until they do something in the majors. Swisher has done something in the majors (both good and bad). At least with Swisher we can see what we are getting. Gio lead the minors in K's this year if i read that right but that doens't mean he's gonna come up and tear up the AL when he comes up. He might..but we don't know. I don't think people were too upset about trading Ring. He was a relief prospect, not that big of a deal to be honest. Most importantly, the American League Central is drastically different than it was back than. Big time difference between Gio and Ring and the division.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 03:55 PM) For some reason the lights are on at USCF right now. Press conference to announce Swisher, Bedard and Kazmir.

Going to my first game tonight. Free is a good price. I'm excited to see Portland in person as well.

QUOTE(juddling @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 03:45 PM) i think the same was said when Royce Ring was traded. He then went on to be traded 3 or 4 more times that season IIRC. Sox traded him twice in the last few years and Phillies got him and gave him back so mabye his sh*t isn't as good as everyone thinks it is. Alright, a Gio and Ring comparison is quite ridiculous. I'm not Gio's biggest fan but those two aren't even comparable.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 03:09 PM) Well, defensively, Fields is a question mark, but Cabrera is an exclamation point. Konerko is solid, Richar is solid and could be very good. Dye is weak, Quentin I really don't know, and Swisher I really don't know. So on defense we are sorta hanging a lot on Cabrera to be our stud aren't we? Ya, pretty much. I wasn't even really talking about defense, though you make a good point. I'm just extremely worried about this teams starting pitching.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 03:05 PM) Just an exercise...no particular order implied here. Cabrera - 8 home runs Swisher - 25 home runs Thome - 40 home runs Konerko - 30 home runs Dye - 30 home runs Fields - 30 home runs Pierzynski - 10 home runs Quentin - 25 home runs? Richar - 10 home runs Being pretty conservative overall except assuming a full season for Thome...That right there would come to 208 home runs. The least of this teams worries is power. We haven't had to worry about power for a while now. I'd like a little more speed in the lineup but this team is going to score some runs, I just don't think they're going to be able to prevent them very well.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 02:12 PM) I remember a lot of us were saying that if Garland/Garcia/Contreras pitch like they were capable that this team would be stellar. It turned out that all of those things happened and the Sox kicked butt. People were really in love with the 05 off-season (I know I was). The only potential knock was the fact that value wise the Sox got there asses handed to them in the Carlos Lee trade (but the extra money helped the SOx out big time). Yup. NSS, you should have been here, this place has never been happier.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 02:05 PM) But could Paul Konerko, Joe Crede and prospects get that deal done? Nah. Trust me, if we could land Bedard some how, I'd flip flop on this trade about as fast as anyone. Getting a guy like Bedard would make us legit contenders imo.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 02:00 PM) But if floyd/danks fail, i don't think that it would've been Gio and DLS that we would've gone to this year anyway. Gio would have had a shot, DLS obviously not.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 02:00 PM) I think the most important point in there is that he hadn't played CF before 2007. Which means he's not going to be great at it, but also means he is likely to improve in 2008. By the way, just looked - also no CF in the minors for Nick. He was a true rookie at it. Definitely a good point. It'll be interesting what the Sox have planned with him.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 01:56 PM) Stats, FWIW... FPct: .986 (would be around 15th of 18 qualified CF) RF: 2.62 (would be around 12th of same) ZR: .836 (would be around 17th of same) Had 1 OF assist Not looking great statistically. But that may not be a great measure, with his limited time there. IMPORTANT NOTE: He had barely ever played CF before 2007 (3 innings TOTAL at major league level), so he was in learning mode. If he can learn... Ya, I appreciate the post but no offense, I'm just not a huge fan of defense stats. Would definitely love to talk to someone who has seen him play out there a number of times.

I'll ask again but does anyone know how good of a cf Swish is? I honestly don't recall see him playing center, so I'm very curious.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 01:47 PM) We still aren't a team that's going to the playoffs, but at least we are improved to the point where we can go around .500 and finish in 3rd. The problem just remains we have no farm system, that is KW's undoing. Which does what for us exactly?