BrandoFan

Something about him being Sox' best hitter all spring long and generally succeeding from 2-spot against RHP in the last 4 years.

The problem with Web Gem: how do you know it wasn't a routine play that the fielder made into a tough one by misplaying it in the first place? He shouldn't get credit for routine plays. Also, a diving catch in a 5-0 game and bases empty is worth a hellava lot less than it would be in a tied ball game and bases loaded. Let's face it: you have to take into account SITUATIONAL performance -- a pitcher giving up 5 ER when the team is leading 11-0 is better than one giving up 4 ER in a 3-0 game, etc -- at some point if you want to assess true value. It doesn't have to alter the point system -- just taken into account when deciding who the player of the game is.

Then don't use the word 'value' -- it's anything BUT. Number-crunching is nice, but it helps to look beyond/into the stats. In my example, player A is clearly more valuable than Player B whose PTC score is technically higher. I've seen players go 0-for-4 with a couple of diving 2-out catches that saved 4-5 runs. According to your system, that player is less valuable than a DH from his team who went 1 for 4 with 2 GIDP and an ill-advised foul-ball that canceled an easy stolen base. Etc, etc, etc. I realize it's a daunting task to try incorporate situation batting/pitching, to say nothing of fieding; one might actually have to -- gasp -- watch the games and take mental notes, and often the result will be SUBJECTIVE in nature. But my thing is, either do it right or don't do it at all. That's why I never once participated in the PTC contest.

Let's try this again:

You want value? What, OPS, TB, RC/27, RISP/RO Slug, ERA, WHIP, OPS-A, W-L, Save %, etc are not enough? Also....any PC system somehow HAS to include the When Factor -- a player can go 1 for 4 but his only hit could be a 3-run homer that brings the team back against a tough pitcher.....while another player would go 2 for 4 with a 3-run homer off a crappy reliever but only when the lead is already secured. Who to give PC to? Also, there is DEFENSE.....

Bulls***. Arguing on the internet is not inherently different from arguing on the non-Internet. If anything, you're more likely to have people express whats REALLY on their minds when they have the luxury of Anonymity.

There are so many questionable if not totally outrageous premises and conclusions in the above, I am sure it will be picked apart by the likes of CW, FSJ, Apu and Tex, so I'll defer to them to do the dirty work for me. I am, however, interested in your opinion re: PNAC I & II. Thanks in advance.

Kata is a better hitter than Robbie at this point and he might improve as young hitters a sometimes do. Robbie is such an after-thought, it's not even funny. Which is why Sox should pursue him if Roberts doesn't work out. Throw Zona a prospect and they might pick up part of his salary.

Ok caught up with the missed eps. Bill is clearly the favorite at this point and has a stronger team. Holding out hope for Kwame -- the way this show is edited, you never know the truth -- context shots and the time frame often do not match, and the drama/story arcs are probably created out of nothing. Right now, the producers clearly wish to present's Kwame's project as a disaster -- coupled with the fact that he's basically been in the shadows for the entire series, conventional wisdom says Loyola Wiz has it in the bag. Which is why I think underdog Kwame will win. And Assorama....do people like that even exist? Even contrasted with the rest of the girlie lot on that show, she comes off as this grotesque, a strangle alloy of arrogance, ambuition, ignorance, cheekbones and drama, lol. I sincerely hope for her own good that she is The Donald's ratings/sabotage plant.

Took away a hit in KC. Gave a hit in NY. So far has been average. Comparing Crede to Harris makes no sense. Crede is not a polished hitter but he has a live bat and has proven he can hit at every level (even if not as well as some have hoped).......Harris, on the other hand, has NEVER hit -- not even in the minors, save for 1 hot month in AAA. So far he has put up some cartoonishly bad numbers in the majors -- and he's had plenty of at-bats, people. Forrest for the trees, YAS. He was lucky he made it out of the 2nd inning. He was bad. Everything was hit HARD. Sox have no choice but to continue the Show Experiment, but make no mistake about it: if he pitches likes this every time he takes the mound, his ERA won't clear 6.00.

First of all, he can definately hit much higher than .150 from the left side. It takes time to adjust -- he should have given up switch-hitting years ago -- but from what I saw of him this spring, when he doesn't overswing and uses the whole field, Jose can definately hit lefties from that side. But even if he only hits, say, .210 against them, who are you gonna replace him with? Uribe? Then what do you do with Harris who will be lucky to hit .100 against lefties? Mike f***ing Bordick is till out there, no? Last year he crushed LHP. A temporary solution, but a much needed one.

Vidro is not an option -- too much money. Like I said before, if Kenny doesn't want Robbie for a Mill, he ain't spending millions PLUS a prospect. Arizona would be stupid to give up Kata. He's done nothing but hit so far. He will be cheap until at least 2007.

My problem is not that we're 1-2. I mean, both games in KC were very winnable and, let's face it, when Shoenwiess takes on Vasquez in the Bronx, with all of their boppers in the line-up, Sox have NO chance. What bothers me is the fact that Sox have a HUGE hole at 2B/lead-off spot and that they STILL can't hit a good breaking pitch to save their life. The former tells me that KW is still KW and the latter that Greg Walker has no magical formula for turning an average offense into an above average one by instilling an all-field, less greedy approach we've haven't seen since early 2000. Furthermore, Sox still don't do the little things right -- constantly make outs at 2nd base, can't complete a run-down, certain players can't be bothered to get over to first to complete a DP, don't hit behind the runner, etc, etc.....When you don't have a vastly superior team talent-wise, the little things accumulate and lead to 2003-esque disasters when the team underpeforms the Pythagorian and misses postseason.

I mean.....if you can't muster 850 OPS or a sub-4.00 ERA in the repeat years in the minors, what the hell are you gonna do in the Majors, especially when you're counted on to be among those who contribute to the playoff-caliber team? I am so sick of crossing my fingers and being happy when Olivo hits a blooper on a 2-0 pitch or Danny Wright throws a first pitch strike without it being a meat-ball. Low expectations suck. Where's our Prior? Where's our Pujols? Where's our Gagne? What has the farm system produced since Buerhle's arrival in 2000? Sox are not the Yankees; big talent has to be churned out almost annually if we're to thrive. Rauch and Borchard have done nothing for me to believe they will be anything but marginal ML'ers -- if that. Step up or shut up.

No, I don't see it. Borchard says he really wants it baaaad? Then how aboout going 2-for-2 with 3 walks and 2 homers, 1 from each side, and gunning down a couple of baserunners? Rauch says he's disappointed, what with being left off the ML roster and all? Then how about clocking in an . 8 inning, 2 hits, no ER, 14 K-type performance and forcing KW to board the next available plane -- as he did a few times in 2000? I guess I am tired of seeing 1-for-4 and 6 inning/3 runs crap from the supposed phenoms and having to make excuse for them to fans of other teams. No thank you -- Sox have enough mediocrity on the ML roster.

They share the last name. Ergo, brothers -- if only metaphysically -- not unlike Charlie and Jerry Manuels.

Kenny might care when his ass is fired, which it will be if the team is not in 1st place come summer-time if not before that. Then again.....

I am particular interested in Borchard, Rauch and Reed. OPS of 1000, ERA of 2.75, OPS of 950 is what I am looking at. That is if they want to take the ML roster by storm.

Maybe, maybe not. Last 3 seasons he's been pretty close to that level. Better than having Garland and Show as 3-4. I would suggest somebody like Hudson, but first the A's have to be well out of contention and then there's Billy Caesar's asking price..... Maybe Randy Johnson if he is not totally fallling apart. Any ideas?

For someone who's only been good 2 years and has lost the special speed he possessed, I don't think he is worth what he is making. The Sox can't even pay Robbie 1 Mill -- how the hell are they gonna pay a ?? like Castillo 7-8 times that over multiple years? DBHA0 is on the right track with Spivey, but he is making 2.5 Mill and Brewers aren't about to pick up his salary. Baltimore's Roberts remains the best candidate. Cheap and underrated.

Indians started 2002 at 11-1. So far is only 4 games. 2.5% of the season give or take. Young has a broken leg and will miss 2 months. Munson sucks. White is made of china. I-Rod will get pitched around, will suddenly decide he doesn't want to play in Detroit anymore. The team will settle into 100-loss groove. Royals may not be better than the Sox, but they could have easily won both games. They have a smart GM and a super-rich owner who WILL get them impact players if KC's in 1st at the break. In the last 3 years, Twins kicked our ass. Unless Santana is out of the pitcture, it would be stupid to count them out just yet -- it's not as if Sox are playing good ball themselves. The schedule is brutal. Twins and KC had to deal with it last year and didn't b**** about it. We're about to find out what the Sox are made of. If Sox fans won't attend because the media focuses on the Cubs...well, then, they aren't worth much as fans, are they? The damn park BETTER be packed in the first 2 weeks, rain or not. It's time for Sox fans to put up or shut up.

*bash* *whack* *bash* Feels better now.

What about the contestants themselves...perhaps it's the way it's edited, but I swear for all their impressive credentials, they have the business acumen of Mike Tyson. What was even more interesting is the way women were consistently kicking men's ass until Trump started pitting them against each other. So much for the stereotype. If I have to hear the pathetic "leaders are born....it's in your genes....and, Mr. Trump, by golly, I have them in spades" spiel one more time....Talk about delusions of grandeur, wow. LMAO/. Let the snark roll.

Yeah....but your "CEO search" wouldn't have the ratings The Apprentice does. Integrity and intelligence don't sell well. And of course The Donald is a phony -- one look at that man's super-ugly/tacky guilded and encrusted apartment in the 1st ep should have tipped one off to his creepy souless-ness. But the way he subtly pits those MBA/Harvard types and exposes them for the incompetent, spotlight-vampiring drama queens they really are...to say nothing of his minions and the editing.....It's hilarious.

He does have a curve -- very mediocre one, but it does the job when fastball-slider combo is working....which it didn't last year. Change-up is out of the question. It will go the way Foulke's curveball usually goes -- only 50 or so feet farther.