BrandoFan

Oh yeah...1 base versus 16.... Oh and "key errors" Jose Valentin made since 2000 can be counted on Bart Simpson's left hand. I remember one in Minnesota last May, but then again all of Sox runs came courtesy of his bat, so they lose either way. Confidence? The next time Jose leaps and takes away a would-be 2-run gapper by Jacque Jones to save Mark's ERA and W-L record as he did last September at USCF....No, that coouldn't possibly instill confidence

This provides some Defense 101...good read http://www.diamond-mind.com/articles/defeval.htm

I know you're kidding, but it's not funny. They got TREMENDEOUS exposure in the NLCS and made even more fans nationally and internationally. Then there's money gravy from the 4 home games that probably allowed them to go after Hawkins or Lee, which made them a better team THIS year. And it gave guys like Wood and Prior postseason experience and confidence that they can go against the best hitters and beat them....something that might come in handy should they make playoffs this year. So yeah.... :fyou Bobby Cox and Bobby Hick.

You think Jose is bad against lefties from the left side? You haven't seen Willie Harris, have you? Uribe can't play both positions at once. I've always said I'd rather have Jose for 2 Mill than Garciaparra at 13 -- even before Nomar hurt his wrist and lost his HOF specialness.....But I have NO idea what Sox were thinking picking up Jose's option at 5 Mill when based on his comments, he was willing to sign a 2-year/4.5 Mill type contract just a few weeks before.

Look at it this way: --Rowand, Perez, Anderson will be competing for CF position --Lee, Reed, Gload for LF --Maggllio, Sweeney, Borchard for RF. Obviously, Lee and Magglio would have to out-perform their competiion by a WIDE-ass margin -- Reed's 830 OPS at 300K are worth more than Lee's 850 OPS at 8 Mill just as, say, Sweeney's 850 OPS at league minimum would be worth more than Maggs' 920 OPS at 13+ Mill. Right?

43 year old man embroiled in a 15-pitch battle with Farnsworth who was feeding him 99mph fastballs and tantalizing sliders, battling back from down 0-2.....just missed a slam once.....missed a bases-clearing double again.....and then......DRIVE TO OPPOSITE FIELD OVER SHAMY'S HEAD, 3 RUNS SCORE, BRAVES COME BACK FROM BEHIND TO TAKE THE LEAD GOING INTO THE 9TH. Maybe it will be justice after Flubs pulled one out on Friday oin the 15th. In any case.....Franco -- what HEART, Sox hitters can learn a thing or two from him. I firmly believe Bobby Cox f***ed up BIG TIME by starting Bobby Fick in the first 3 games against the Cubs in NLDS -- Fick was terrible at the plate and even worse defensively while Franco was smoking the ball every at bat when he did get a chance to hit......Braves would have won with Franco, no doubt about that. :fyou Cox.

See, 6/68 is something I can live with, especially if some of it is deferred. If Sox have a great year and fans come out, then they could afford paying 11 Mill a year to a fan favorite. If Sox have a bad year, fans don't come but Magglio has a 1000 OPS season that would mean he would have high trade value afa teams like Dodgers and Yankees. BUT.....make no mistake about it, Magglio was never worth the 4 year/60 Mill money he reportedly was asking for. Outside of 2002 when he padded his numbers when the Sox were out of contention, Magglio has basically been a 875-900 OPS hitterduring is career, and given his rather average baserunning and fairly unspectacular (last couple of seasons) defense, to say nothing of his limited marketability......I just don't see the superstar everyone else sees. Magglio has a live bat, but his pitch selection/eye is nothing special. What happens when Frank is on another team and Magglio won't get a great line-up protection? Vlad Guerrero and Sosa in his prime thrived because they had INSANE plate coverage, so they didn't need a really good eye to be very effective. Magglio, on the other hand, DOES need it if he wants to be a 1000 OPS player -- and at 30yo, he is not likely to improve his ordinary (by Bonds, Sheffield, Thomas, Helton standards) pitch selection. And without such improvement, HOW is he gonna take it to the next level annd become a true superstar? Of course Magglio is welcome to prove me wrong and break-out ala Sammy Sosa did in 1998.

He was 94-97 while with Athletics. With the Sox in 2003, Koch was 93-94 early, then 90-93 before going on DL/AAA. So far this season, he's 92-97 but with a bit more movement. He will live and die with his control (ie not falling behind 2-0/3-1 on every hitter) and his slider. If both are going, his curve will be unhittable as noone would look for it in their right mind.

Part of the reason it's not appreciated is because Jose doesn't look like your typical lanky athlete at SS; he doesn't make acrobatic stops like Ozzie Smith, Ray Ordonez or Clayton on every other play because, well, he doesn't need to -- just as he gets good jumps on the base-pads despite not having much speed, his quick first step and anticipation/positioning skills at SS create for an above-average range. Then you add a pretty strong arm, quick release on the DP pivot AND Jose's willingness to go for a risky play like a force-out at 2nd instead of an easy out at 1st.....and you got a make-up of a pretty good defensive player. The only knock: patented concentration lapse. Shoulder dips, too much is put on the throw and it sails. If Jose can keep his error total under 25, he'll be a solid SS. If under 15, a Gold Glover. Before I forget (scroll down a bit) http://www.diamond-mind.com/articles/gg2003.htm

I can only judge from the last two times I've seen him play SS full-time: In 2000, he was below-average-to-average. As documented, most errors didn't lead to runs and were partially compensated for with above-average range, arm, DP, etc. Still a minor liability defensively but not nearly as big as mindless casual fans like J-Hood seem to think. In 2003, he was average-to-above-average -- bad in the first 6 weeks and GG-caliber in the last 4.5 months. This spring training, playing on inferior quality infield, he's been flawless. Btw.....even when he was at his worst early in 2003, check this out:

Maybe, maybe not. I didn't like him chasing pitches toward the end of ST. He did have a stretch while in the Cubs farm system where he hit 14 homers in 25 games or something like that. Absolutely sick. But then again, Brooks Keishnick had a scarily live bat and look at what he's amounted to.

Just drop him in the order as punishment for over-swinging. I am fine with Rowand/Olivo in the 2-spot against lefties and Perez/Lee against righties.

I can't tell you how much I've heard this sentiment about how Tigers are to be feared........Bulls***. They will lose 95+ games this year, without Young and with El Fragilito (White). They are awful. When Twins and Royals win it's a BAD, BAD thing. As bad as when the Cubs win. Sox have to be in 1st place by 4-5 games for Reindorf to open his wallet at the All-Star Break. As badly as they are playing, Twins and Royals both have 2 dramatic 9th inning wins and are doing well in the standings. That can't help but inspire them and their fans and maybe even their owners.

for this s***? Two gift wins to Minnesota and now to KC. I take delight in the fact that Tribe will lose 100 games, but they're hemorraging games to our divional rivals and this. is. not. cool. :fyou

Speed on the pads is WAY more than just SB's. Years of watching Sox having to come up with 3 consecutive hits to get Konerko or Thomas home from 1st would tell you that. Obvisouly, Willie needs AT LEAST a 320 OBP to remain in the lead-off spot. But in order to be effective with that OBP, he'd have to swipe 40 bases in 48 or 50 attempts to really make an impact and justify Ozzie's philosophy. Hell, Paul O'Neil stole 22 in 25 att as a 37yo in 2001.

Check out a weighted ZR, esp since last May. Or his career range factor (highest in ML) Better yet, watch some games.

Almost broke Cairo's left leg in half.

The game isn't over, I hope you know that. :headshake

Btw....those who don't think range matters.....Jeter just dove for the ball that Jose or Berroa wouldn't even have to dive for. Base hit. Runner on base. How is it different from an error? A runner reaches base on a play he shouldn't have. And pitcher's ERA can suffer.

Konerko's next to last at-bats was UGLY. Konerko's last at bat (line-out to 2b) was very good.

I told you people last year: if Jose doesn't over-stride/submarine and keeps the arc low on his throws, he'll be a good SS as it would literally eliminate half of his errors and his range/arm/release/willingness to go for a risky play would paint over whatever other mistakes he does make.. Today he tried to do too much, too quickly and got burned on it. Hopefully he learns his lesson and stays contained as he did since last May. It's up to him.

Since roughly last mid-May (with Spring training that includes 5.5 months) when Sanatana tweaked his throwing motion, Jose only comitted 10 errors while leading the majors in range and DP efficiency. So he overthrew a couple 2000-style, cry me a river.

And I, in turn, have a feeling you're a homer who cares more about such MEANINGLESS fantasy league s*** as Complete Games....at the expense of a young pitcher's health and bullpen's readiness for the next game.

Who gives a f*** about Santo and Hughes! Way to deflect from Rooney's obvious inadequac(ies) as a RADIO pbp man.

But that's my point: you can be a very good hitter, but if you have no confidence in yourself and/or refuse to make adjustments day-to-day, pitcher-to-pitcher, AB-to-AB.....the league WILL catch up with you. Even Barry Bonds would struggle if he was swinging at some of the garbage Konerko was (and Rowand, Harris, Valentin, Uribe, Crede are) swinging at last year's 1st half.