ptatc

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Mar 13, 2010 -> 11:48 AM) PTATC, could this injury be potentially similar or worse than an Achilles tendon tear? Much worse. Achilles tendon repairs are usually successful and if there is residual pain it's isolated to the tendon. If there is a residual problem with this tendon it not only effects the tendon but many other structures as well. I mention how it supports the arch so foot problems are a worry. Also, this tendon goes through the tarsal tunnel, if you've heard of carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrist/hand, it's a similar structure. If the tendon gets inflamed it can cause numbness/tingling/pain in the bottom of the foot. This will be a very tricky surgery/rehab.

QUOTE (quickman @ Mar 13, 2010 -> 08:15 AM) where is PTAC. He is a doctor and I don't think he has chimed in here. I think when the kid is suppose to play on an MLB team he will. Right now this doesn't effect our ballclub. If the padres want to trade in mid year I am sure he is still valuable, considering he wouldn't play MLB for another or two. This is a potentially very serious injury. One of the primary functions of the posterior tibialis tendon is to support the arch of the foot. If this tendon isn't functioning properly it could lead to chronic foot problems such as plantar fasciitis. This is the main concern. If the tendon avulsed from the bone the re-attachment should be fairly easy. If the tear is in the middle of the tendon it is much more difficult. Repairing the actual tendon is like tying two pieces of spaghetti together. They would probably use a type of metal augmentation device to strengthen it. Hopefully it avulsed off the bone and there is an improved chance that he will have no lingering problems. We will know by how soon they allow him to run on it. Either way it's a 3 to 8 month injury from surgery to rehab to return to play. It will be toward the early end if it came off the bone toward the latter end if it tore mid substance. Just for the record, I'm not a doctor, I'm a physical therapist and athletic trainer by profession.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 2, 2010 -> 01:58 PM) I agree, for the most part, the divisions are logical (regional). If teams move like Detroit, KC, or Tampa move, then i can see some minor adjustments (shifts within the league). For example, if the Rays moved to Vegas, then I could see them moving into the West and leave it as that, or move Texas to the Central and Cleveland to the East. The only way a "radical" realignment happens is if the DH is either abolished by the AL or adopted by the NL. Then you can do some major whole sale changes to create "hyper-regional" match ups (an Idea I love by the way). In a situation like that, you clump teams like the Brewers, Cubs, Sox, Twins, Royals, and Twins in one division. So, for the sake of some fun, here is my "Hyper-Regional" Realignment (it still has some flaws I need to work out)- D1 - Yankees, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Mets, Washington D2 - Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Toronto D3 - Minnesota, Sox, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cubs, Milwaukee D4 - Tampa Bay, Florida, Atlanta D5 - Texas, Houston, Arizona, Colorado D6 - Angels, Seattle, Oakland, Dodgers, San Francisco, San Diego Note, i did NOT give the divisions names or leagues. In a massive realignment scenario, there would be a LOT of politics as to what divisions go in what league. One thing to look at is you can't have teams from the same geographic TV market in the same division like Sox/Scrubs, Yankees/Mets/ Giants/A's. The TV audience draws more if they have different teams to play and are viewedas interleague rivals. Football does it as well with the Giants/Jets. It's not realistic to put them in the same "league" or "division" or however you want to describe it.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 11:04 AM) Losing Nathan allows them to shift a guy like Rauch or Guerrier into the closers spot, while letting another one of their 5th starter candidates to make the team. Rauch and Guerrier are by no means Nathan-esque, but they are pitchers who can be inserted into the role and trusted to produce at least league-average results out of the closers role. Their obligation will be to usually pitch one inning a performance, my understanding has always been that one inning shouldn't be too much to ask of any pitcher. Since his shift to the bullpen Nathan has averaged 63.375 innings per year, innings that can be assumed by other members of the pen. It’s unlikely the Twins will get equivalent production, but that’s not fatal. Nathan was a great pitcher, but greatness is not a requirement for the closer’s spot. Losing Nathan might cost them a couple solid performances in the 9th, but as a rule: a closer’s job varies in it’s important on a nightly basis, often with the more important innings falling to the set-up-man. The Twins will take a hit here, but that’s not enough to rule them out of the race. I hope that didn’t’ seem like a lecture, I just needed to put the case out their without leaving anything out. I understand what you are saying and it's true that it doesn't seem like it should be very difficult. But it is. However, the difference is the room for error. The closer will come in when the game is on the line. If the replacement is just a little worse which is probable because Nathan is one of the best, the Twins will lose that game. That inning which shouldn't be difficult lost them a game because the manager put them in that position. So, if the closer has only 5 more bad innings than Nathan that would 5 more loses. The closers positions as you stated pitches comparatively few innings. However, the pitcher placed in that position puts all of the pressure for the game on themselves and it is self generated pressure. The point could be made that if the team scored two more runs earlier in the game the closer's position would be as pressure filled. The fact is that the team didn't and the closer puts pressure on himself to convert 3 outs in a game where there is no room for error and most pitchers cannot deal with it. This is why the numbers of comparatively few innings that you state do not tell the whole story. Look at boston where Papelbon could be a top of the line starter but they keep him as a closer because he can handle it. Or the opposite end like LaTroy Hawkins who continues to put up good numbers as a set up man but folds as a closer. The pressure while self imposed is very real and makes those comparatively few innings very important. This dilemma is also created by the manager putting them in this position but that is a different discussion.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 10:10 AM) This doesn't change that much. I’m not trying to make this issue a referendum on my opinions of the closer position, but I fail to see how losing a closer accounts for the large gap in offense between the two teams. This is good news for us, just not the biggest news we could have hoped for. Probably because you are only looking at it from one point of view. Offense Most managers put the closer in the 9th innings of close games. It doesn't mattter if the game is 2-1 because of their high powered offense. If Nathan's replacement loses 5 more games, our offense differential doesn't matter because they lost 5 more games. They still lose that many more games. Most closers get about 40 chances in close games. These are more chances to lose games.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 08:27 AM) If he can't throw, there is no way he can hit at 100%. He probably can. That's the unique thing about the ulnar collateral ligament tear (tommy john). It only bothers you when you separate the inside of the elbow during motion. This happens during throwing because the shoulder and humerus are leading the forearm. It doesn't happen during hitting because holding onto the bat stabilizes the elbow and you only get elbow extension. You'll see in rehab protocols that people start hitting very early in the process but can't throw until near the end.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 08:03 PM) Can you give me a single example of anyone ever getting HIV from a blood test for steroids? Especially at the professional athlete level? How many olympians, cyclists, etc., have gone through them without that issue? Compared to heavy abuse of HGH, for example? Let me clarify. I meant that it is a possiblitilty and that the union will use it to prevent that type of testing. I know of a few athletes who got infections, more to thier own carelessness after the test, but no one who got HIV. But the union will push that point hard to prevent blood testing since they got embarrased by having to add drug testing without giving much up.

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 12:51 PM) There are a lot of people against their employer taking their blood for any reason. There's a lot that can be learned by a blood test. Not to mention there are genuine health risks such as infections, HIV...etc.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 04:32 PM) Morel should have a more mature approach at the plate, he's 2 years older. Maturity of chronologic age and approach at the plate don't necessarily go together. However, he is older and should be more advanced and I think he is. (I'm trying to deadpan the dig because it was a good one )

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 04:53 PM) It's still crazy to me that Morel has jumped so much higher than Viciedo on some lists. I just don't see it, Dayan is still a much better prospect than Brent imo. I still like Morel from what I've seen. He has a better more mature approach at the plate than Viciedo and will be a better overall on defense as well. The only thing I think Viciedo does better than Morel is power.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 7, 2010 -> 11:44 AM) ^^^^ "hey kids, let's head to the Hall of Fame to see the greatest people to play baseball!" "But dad most of these guys did drugs, cheated, and a bunch of things you tell me not do??" "I guess that is what baseball and baseball fans are the most proud of . . ." shouldn't that be baseball writers? Aren't they the ones who vote then in?

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 04:33 PM) Yeah, and you can't win a game without a pitcher recording a "win", but that does not mean "wins" is a good stat for determining how good a pitcher is. He is saying RBIs are an overrated individual stat, which I agree with. i love it when this arguement starts each year. It really makes me feel that baseball is here.

QUOTE (scenario @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 11:56 AM) Dontrelle Willis has been telling Damon what a great organization the Tigers have. Well ****... what is Dontrelle expected to say? If somebody grossly overpaid me for doing absolutely nothing I'd be thrilled too. You should get a job working for the State of Illinois, we have a lot of jobs like that.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 10:05 AM) I think the whole situation was botched. The state or city should have gone the extra step and put a roof on the thing, if that meant a whole new building in a different location, that would have been OK by me. A roof would have given the ability to draw extra revenue for big events. If Detroit got a Super Bowl, no doubt Chicago would have got one (although that would have been likely a one time thing), Final Fours, Wrestlemania (might seem obscure to some, but that event often sells 50k+ tickets) and other large events. being a season ticket holder, I would not want a dome stadium. The other season ticket holder around us have had this discussion and there would not be very many who would support it. Not that it matters much as McCaskey et al. will do what they want. I realize they could hold more events there, although they do hold many concerts. I like football in bad weather. It's unique in that way.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 05:39 PM) Look at how high Peavy's elbow is. The general rule in pitching mechanics is that you shouldn't form an inverted W with your lead and throwing arm. Peavy kind of ignores that... Another guy who has that similar elbow bend... No other than Shawn Marcum, the guy who owns us, but can't stay healthy. I would disagree with some of the comments. Most of the research shows that elbow problems usually come from the angle of the elbow itself. The straighter the elbow the more stress there is on the UCL and the more likely you are to tear it and need the"Tommy John" The part about the shoulder is valid . The higher elbow forces the shoulder into more internal rotation which increases the amount of rotation needed to achieve full external rotation. This will cause the joint capsule and labrum to stretch which in turn will cause the "loose" joint. Any number of problem can arise from this. Our research has shown that the increased joint play in the shoulder is the primary variable leading to shoulder problems however it is also the reason pitchers have enough rotation to throw with the velocity they need. It's a real catch 22. This is why shoulder surgeries are serious for pitchers. If the surgeon tightens it too much they lose the ability to generate the velocity. If it's not tightened enough the dysfunction is still present

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 07:18 PM) Did we really need Halladay? Personally, I think our rotation is good enough as is. I would have loved to have him, but we probably would have needed to trade either Danks for Floyd, something I wouldn't have wanted to do. This team needs a big hitter more so than a big pitcher, something Kenny failed to get this off-season. This has got to be one of the silliest questions I've ever heard. Do we really need a Cy Young award winner in his prime? Pitching always trumps hitting. This is why there are so many ridiculous contracts paid to pitchers and not as many for hitters.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 10:43 AM) The issue here is the empirical evidence that shows Jones has fallen off before the age of 33. It's pure conjecture to assume that we're going to get some kind of youth movement from him, the numbers don't add up. I'm hopeful for him, and i like him a hell of a lot more in the DH spot then i do Kotsay, but i see no reason for dramatic optimism. Could it be that he got lazy and complacent at the end of his Atlanta tenure and with the huge LA contract? It may not be physical at all. He may now realize that with going from 10 mil per year to 500K he may need to get his lazy a** moving again.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 10:00 AM) I don't believe Herm has any professional certifications. IIRC, newer trainers need to be "certified athletic trainers," but Herm isn't. Herm is a certified athletic trainer. He is certified through the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and licensed through the State of Illinois. Within the last 5 years you needed to go to a 4 year Bachelor's program to be eligible to sit for the national certification exam. Previous to this you could do the intership route where you needed to get a Bachelor's degree in anything, take 9 specific courses and work 1800 hours under a certified trainer. Then you could sit for the exam. This is the route I took and what most people took prior to the mandatory Bachelor's degree.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 09:20 PM) He said "best players you can" And a big problem here is that we have not been able to develop league average players to plug into positions so you aren't paying big major league deals at so many offensive positions when you are on a budget. Only beckham and Quentin qualify as such. While this isn't a problem specific to this offseason, it just shows that allocating 5 million more in the draft can save millions more on the major league roster. And so we hope that these players in the minors are actually talented enough to plug into those holes in the future so we can afford to keep our quentin's and beckhams. I'm not disagreeing about the development of players. However, the 5 million you are referring to will not help anywhere significantly. There is a budget the 6 million they offered Damon is already over the budget. This is money that doesn't exist. You may think "just spending a little more" will help bit JR is not giving that money to KW. KW spent his money on pitching if he had the extra 5 million we may not have the pitching staff that we do. As you said it's all about allocating the resources and KW decided to load it up in one area. It's like the NFL. Very few teams spread the money between the offense and defense because spreading it out only makes them average to above average. They concentrate on one area to be really good there and fill in the rest. This is what KW has done. It's just that the filling in part is on the offense which goes agianst what has been done here lately and people feel more comfortable with it.

QUOTE (chunk23 @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 09:14 PM) We don't need versatility at this point. There is plenty of that. I posted this a few pages back but I guess it needs to be repeated... C: A.J., Castro, Flowers, and they're even having Retherford take reps at C. 1B: Konerko, Kotsay, Flowers - really anybody. 2B: Beckham, Teahen, Alexei, Nix, Vizquel, Retherford, Lillibridge, SS: Alexei, Beckham, Vizquel, Nix, Lillibridge, 3B: Teahen, Beckham, Vizquel, Nix, Retherford, Lillibridge RF: Quentin, Rios, Kotsay, Jones, Teahen CF: Rios, Jones, Pierre, Alexei LF: Pierre, Quentin, Jones, Kotsay We don't need more versatility. We need someone who will give the Sox strong offensive production. Jones/Kotsay will not do that. A rotation would be fine if it was the result of too much talent in a crowded lineup, something like 4 really good OFers. That's not the case here. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. However, I'm saying that this is what they are going to to. This is what they want to do. Jones will give you power and a good defensive replacement. Kotsay against RH only is a pretty good hitter and an option to give PK a rest. Not everyone can play first well enough to maintain a good defensive infield. Alexei can be erratic, Beckham is at a new position andTeahen will be an improvement but is far from a great 3B. I would rather trust someone we know can play there if they need to.

QUOTE (chunk23 @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 09:00 PM) The DH is for offensive only players. That's the whole point. A dh has no defensive value. He does if he versatile enough to rotate to defensive positions and give players rest on some days.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 04:34 PM) Watching olympic hockey all week made me think how great the summer olympics would be if MLB allowed its players to compete (if MLB sent its players, baseball would be reinstated as an olympic sport). IMO, it is a much, much better alternative to the WBC (which is a joke). Just start the season a week, week and a half earlier and schedule some doubleheaders. The competition would be insane. What does everyone else think? They do blood based drug testing for the Olympics. MLB players will run as fast as they can away from it.

QUOTE (MattZakrowski @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 08:17 PM) Completing a major league roster isn't like choosing a team template in a video game. You should try to put the best players you can at each position, and Damon/Thome/Matsui/Guerrero/Johnson would have been a huge upgrade over the vortex of suck that is Jones/Kotsay. Screw the video game crap KW is working in the real world with a real budget. You cannot feasibly put the best players at each position. If you do this you will be just average with average players at each position. When you must adhere to a budget you need to pick and choose where to spend your money. KW chose to spend his money on the pitching. The group of players you mention except for Damon are DHs. The Sox want to go with pitching and defense because that is where they spent their money to be very good in one aspect of the game. THey do not want more one dimensional DH players. They are not focusing on offensive only players.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 07:12 PM) Even if Jones and Kotsay exceeded everyone's expectations and did well in their DH roles, would anyone be fooled into bringing them back for the spot in 2011? I guarantee, bad or good, those two won't be the DH past this season. And I understand that if both of them did well in their roles they'd probably look for full-time work, but I just feel that there's no excuse for their placement except for Williams not having enough money left over to fill the position. That, of course, is entirely his fault. It's very convenient that he can use the "Ozzie wants these type of players" excuse to justify it. So is the fact that he spent a heck of a lot of money on a very good pitching staff. There is a weakness in the lineup because he spent the money on the pitching. Would you rather have: 1. A decent pitching staff with a decent lineup 2. A very good pitching staff, with a weak lineup 3. A weak pitching staff with a very good lineup. With a budget you can't have a strength at every position. Something has to give.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 04:32 PM) I'll say this if we sign him or if we don't, but Damon is a piece of crap. I've heard a lot of stories about him outside of baseball, and he deserves to have Boras representing him and his image. He is a good friend of AJ. He can't be that good of a person.