ptatc

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jan 11, 2009 -> 08:52 PM) The thing is, what makes you think Garcia would magically be able to fill one of those spots? He can barely hit 80 on the radar gun, and there is no indication of him being able to hold for any significant amount of time. He had a flare up in the shoulder over the winter as well. So who knows how the rehab is coming. It generally takes a full year of throwing to top out at the shoulder strength again. Who knows where that top will be and he still needs to throw more before he gets there. I could see him being a 5-6 inning guy until he rebuilds the arm but he is a big question mark and not a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jan 11, 2009 -> 06:39 PM) I don't think we should plan on Contreras coming back anytime soon, if ever. At his age, that injury potentially ended his career, IMO. the injury shouldn't end his career. An achilles tendon repair is a fairly easy one compared to most. even in the general orthopedic population the rehab is 6-9 months. With getting back into pitching shape and such I would guess he could be ready at about one year post surgery. Wasn't it around the All-Star break that we lost him? That being said, he wasn't really pitching well last year so who knows how effective he could be this year.

It's obivious that many of the players are seeking an advantage by improving their focus and concentration. This is what many of the ADHD drugs do. However, many of them with have the opposite effect on patients who are misdiagnosed. It will be interesting to see how many of the players have the opposite effect.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 31, 2008 -> 03:41 PM) Frankly, I don't like that health insurance is a for-profit industry. I won't go so far as to say I want socialized insurance (YET, because I haven't become convinced it's the wrong idea yet either), and definitely not full-blown government-run healthcare, but this is somewhere I don't think the pure free market is the answer. the only problem is that the socialization of medicine maybe economically better but is horrible for the consumer and the provider. There isn't a single country that has socialized medicine that is approved by it's citizens. Everyone I know from those countries wants a job they can in which they can climb the ladder high enough to get private insurance. The medical professionals don't like it either because more often than not their hands are tied and they cannot provide the care they should. Socialized medicine doesn't improve medical care. It only prescribes that all people will have mediocre healthcare and will bring the ceiling and floor of care to the middle. Kind of like the current state of the NFL, lots of mediocre teams with many holes in them and nothing particularly great. (I had to bring sports in somehow).

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 24, 2008 -> 11:22 AM) So, Yonder is not far away huh? I always wondered where Yonder was. I thought it was over. And here it is near Cincinnati. Who woulda thunk it.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Dec 24, 2008 -> 10:55 AM) I tend to agree with you and as stupid and simplistic it may seem I think a lot of it comes down to genetics. For the most part you are going to get hurt or you aren't. Of course some of the crazy poor whiplike mechanics have something to do with it, but I look at a player like Zambrano. The guy has started at least 30 games the last 7 years. Javy is another example of a guy who just goes out there year after year and throws 30 games and gives you either 200+ or close to it, year after year (Since 2000 he's made 30 starts and thrown over 200 in 8 of those.) On the flipside there's a guy like Harden who just can't stay healthy. I believe I saw a stat that this season was the first time he made more than 10 starts in a row and then he ended up having to skip starts again. Again, I'm oversimplifying it to make a point, but I just think there are guys who are horses who you can run out there and count on and others that no matter how much you baby are going to run into injury problems. this has alot to do with it and I don't think there are enough to fill on the spots on all of the teams.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Dec 24, 2008 -> 09:59 AM) Ryan is right, pitchers are babied in today's game. It's funny how people assume because you throw more innings or pitches in an outing your arm is going to fall off. That's a load of bull. Pitchers get injured because of poor mechanics and stuff like that, not because of fatigue. Everyone always says Kerry Wood's injury problems lead back to his high school days where he pitched an "abnormal" amount. But that's completely BS. Anyone who throws across their body with the type of velocity he has is going to have injury problems. Perhaps the injury happened a year or two sooner then it could have because of all the work he got in HS, but it was inevitable none-the-less. Also, if the Ranges do shift to a 4 man rotation, they'd be wise to sign Jon Garland. He could do wonders in a 4 man rotation. It's not a load of bull. Some pitchers can handle it and some can't. There aren't enough of the ones who can to go around. Even the ones who can handle it haven't been conditioned to do it. You will need to sacrifice the next MLB season working the pitchers into condition to do it, unless you start it in the minors which he is not proposing. You can't just change it, the body doesn't work that way. Believe me I've worked with enough pitchers to see the conditioning and work they do. Kerry Wood's problems did begin with poor mechanics, however some pitchers canpitch with them, in my opinion Nolan Ryan was one of them. However, Wood's problems were defnitately accelerated by his high school coach with pitching him in both games of double headers.

QUOTE (tommy @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 08:51 PM) I'm sorry but I think representing your country should be a little more 'selective' than simply choosing what team you play for. I can see if a player is a citizen of two countries, he picks one and plays for that team forever. Just my two cents. They use the Olympic qualification rules. I believe it is if someone in your family as recent as your grandparents was a citizen of a ciuntry you can play for them.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 01:02 PM) I've studied his philosophy and I disagree that it decreases stress on the arm. I understand what he is trying to do but i don't agree. He is a qualified person to make the remarks with his research. His philosophy is drastically different than House's. While agree that certain things that Houses espouses are detrimental to a pitcher, I don'y fully agree with Marshall's philosophy either. I think there is a middle ground between the two. I'm not a fan of saying that everything needs to be done in a rigid way. As long as it's biomechanically sound without adding too much stress to a certainarea of the body, you should let the pitcher do what's comfortable. These to philosophies are too rigid for me.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 12:02 PM) Ex-Dodger Mike Marshall has a web-site where he discusses the biomechanical problems of the pitching delivery. He has a theory that pitchers should change their delivery to reduce stress on the arm. It's pretty interesting. http://www.drmikemarshall.com/BaseballPitc...ionalVideo.html I don't think the 4-man rotation would work for an entire season because of the way pitchers are handled, but I do think there are points in the season where the fifth starter (or anyone who's struggling) could be skipped becasue of rainouts or some kind of scheduling quirk that would allow the 4 top guys to pitch on normal rest. You could probably get 3 or 4 more starts out of your top 4 guys and reduce the work load of the fifth starter just by periodically going to the 4-man rotation. I've studied his philosophy and I disagree that it decreases stress on the arm. I understand what he is trying to do but i don't agree.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 11:21 AM) I heard an interesting theory on this on the Boers & Bernstein show. I can't remember if it was Bernstein or a guest who mentioned that these days pitchers use a lot less of their lower bodies and legs in their deliveries than they used to back in the 60s and 70s. This makes their deliveries more arm-based, and might be why pitchers tire sooner and have to leave games. It was stated that they believed this could also be a factor in the increase in arm injuries over the years. I don't know if that's the case or not, but it was an interesting discussion anyway. There are a few philosophies that espouse this but most don't and shouldn't. What this person was probably was referring to was the Drop and Drive technique that was the most common back in that time. Most biomechanical models show the extra stress this puts on the shoulder and elbow and it has fallen out of favor. However the newer models do not de-emphasize the lower body. They just incorporate it differently. i would bet this person said this due to a the straying away from the Drop and Drive and not so much of looking at the newer ideas because you need to use the lower extremities to protect the arm.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 10:58 AM) Sorry, I'm just point out Kotsay isn't the OBP machine you suggested. I would rather have Anderson and Owens. I like BA, and don't like Owens, but Erstad was a mistake, and Kotsay would be making the same mistake twice IMO. He isn't the GG quality CF he used to be. Doesn't run. Doesn't hit with power and will most likely wind up on the DL. Unless KW is going to get a legit CF, he might as well see what BA can do. If he had 500 AB last year he probably would have had 20 + homers and we all know what he can do defensively. Why banish him to the bench for a guy who isn't as good? Not saying BA is a star in the making, but there's no doubt in my mind if he played everyday he would have better numbers than Kotsay. that's fundamental part of baseball philosophy. Do you want the guy with the lower average and OBP with more HR's or the guy with lower HR but with less strike outs higher OBP. Neither is necessarily right or wrong just your philosophy on how to construct a team. Me I would go with BA due to the defense but both option habe thier advantages and disadvantages.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 10:33 AM) I like this part from him: Take note, ozzie, most baseball fans feel this way! I for one disagree. There aren't enough quality starters to go real deep into games during the long season. You need to use the bottom of the bullpen guys to get to the post season with a relatively fresh and healthy staff. Once the short series begins, these guys should be sent away.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 22, 2008 -> 04:51 PM) so I take it there were just a ton of freaks in the 60s and 70s too, eh? The problem is that with expansion since that time, pitching has been diluted. There are many pitchers now who, if tried to pitch more often would have blown their arm out in the minors and never made it to the majors. That is why pitchers in the majors cannot do this. There are pitchers capable of throwing on a 4 man rotation. They are capable of throwing 150 pitches a game. The problems are that there aren't enough pitchers who can throw often enough for a four man rotation and if the pitchers haven't conditioned their arms to throw the 150 pitches regularly it will catch up to them. And because pitchers are paid so much no team has their better pitchers condition properly to throw that many pitches for fear of losing the investment. I personally have never been afan of the House/Ryan philosophy of mechanics and the art of pitching. I think if Ryan gets too involved it will be a detriment to the pitchers on the team.

QUOTE (heirdog @ Dec 17, 2008 -> 08:26 AM) That's a signal...JR is a smart business man. If you lower payroll and cry "recession" and then increase ticket prices, well, then you lose your fanbase as they cry "recession." So for a product that has been gaining momentum from 2005 on, you don't cut off the fans at this time. That would be suicide for the club and would set them back for years. I really think we are trimming payroll in order to reinvest it into more players. I'm not saying we will top last year's payroll or equal it but it won't be substantially less. I think the hold up in the Dye-Bailey deal is that we are looking to have a contract worked out with Abreu first so that we don't have a gaping hole after trading Dye. The "financial" matters in that deal is that we are looking for Bobby to come down to about $9-10 million per for a max 2 yr deal, maybe an option on a third year. i think another factor is that KW is waiting to see where Texiera goes. If he doesn't go to LA, KW may be able to unload Paulie instead. Paulie's deal is longer than Dye's and the changing of the guard for the slow , slugger team accelerates.

I for one have never heard of this. So I went through a number of research articles. The consensus is that these channel disturbances cannot be fully reveresed. The highly treatable part means that it's not fatal, although some of the articles suggests it can be. I'm not sure the fatigue and injuries are a part of this syndrome that can be treated. It's really a syndrome not a disease in that it's a group of symptoms that are related but the cause of the channel ddisturbance is unknown. KW should not even consider giving him a guaranteed deal unless it has alot of incentives and is a minor league deal.

QUOTE (heirdog @ Dec 17, 2008 -> 07:57 AM) I lost all faith in "mechanics" arguments with Mark Prior. Well there are teo aspects to sports performance: physical and mental. While I disagree with the mechanics philosophy of the people he worked with, I think his problem is more the latter.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 16, 2008 -> 07:21 PM) I guess it's a pretty good sign of progress with our farm system that neither Marquez nor Ely are Top 10 prospects, and yet are realistically viewed as options for 4/5 starter down the line. Gone are the days of Juan Silverio, Andy Gonzalez, Adam Russell, McCulloch, Broadway, Tracey, Francisco Hernandez, Arnie Munoz, etc. We also have a good group of pitching talent just coming into the system (like Carter and Hudson) that aren't in top 10 either. Link didn't make the cut as well. Same with Nunez, Gilmore and Rodriguez. I still think Broadway will be an adequate starting pitcher in MLB. No better than a 4 or 5 but I think he has a future in the league.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 16, 2008 -> 03:49 PM) I'm not counting on anything from Contreras this season. Older players usually don't recover quickly, and his injury was pretty brutal. If anything, I see him as a Carrasco type from about the trade deadline on, and that might even be stretching it. My guess is Contreras will be back around the All-Star break. That is a very conservative estimate based on age and getting his arm in shape.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Dec 15, 2008 -> 11:02 PM) Thoughts? I will be taking it sometime soon. It seems as if I will not have to set the world on fire, just do OK for the program I am applying. We require it for admission for our program. The advice I give students is to get hte CD-ROM review and practice. It gives you practice exams, analyzes your weakness and tailors the pratice to your results. I am doing interviews for our program over the next two days. About 80 interviews for 30 spots. I love to make applicants cry! (just kidding)

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 15, 2008 -> 04:36 PM) damn, i just assumed nobody read my posts. Big Brother is always watching.....

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 15, 2008 -> 04:27 PM) Yeah, also this site, one page back. i was referring to the site from which that information was taken.

QUOTE (BaseballNick @ Dec 15, 2008 -> 03:43 PM) Hopefully it's something of significance. I'm going to bet it's not Furcal. One site said that the A's are offering a 4 year deal. I would go near him for that length of a deal and his injury history.

QUOTE (scenario @ Dec 15, 2008 -> 04:05 PM) Best case? Tough call. I'd be very happy if he wins 10 games, wins more games than he loses, pitches >150 innings, has better than league average ERA (4.50ish), and consistently goes 6 innings or more. That would be good production for a #5 starter. (Think Glen Perkins). I think that's fairly realistic. But who knows? I will be reasonably happy if he just doesn't suck, pull a Boone Logan, and forget how to throw the ball across the plate without getting killed. That would be bad unless other guys really step up. My dream scenario is that he comes to camp with a cutter and better command of the changeup. If he does, he could be the #4 starter in the rotation rather than 5. In that case, I'd want to see 12+ wins, 175+ innings, ERA in the low 4.00's (4.30 or lower). I think that is possible, but optimistic. (Think Nick Blackburn.) Of course, anything better than those numbers would be outstanding. But I think would be too much to hope for from a first year starter. With that lower arm angle a cutter should work real nice for him. I hope he can get the feel for the grip because I'm sure they'll work on it with him. Especially with those RH hitters stats against him. LETS BUST SOME BATS!

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 15, 2008 -> 10:50 AM) I know the Dye/Bailey deal looks dead but found this about Bailey's mechanics http://www.drivelinemechanics.com/2008/12/...chanics-homer-b . In short his mechanics don't look so good. that article is based on at least two conflicting theories of pitching mechanics. I for one don't agree that scap loading is a bad thing. It can be bad when combined with the fact that his pelvis drifts too far forward before his trunk begins to come forward. I haven't seen him pitch much but it's obvious someone tried to alter his mechanics. He's using some of the old "drop and drive" mechanics in the lower extremity and the House/Ryan theory with his arm and the curveball grip. He looks to be trying too many different things at once and succeeding at none. If he listens to advice and gets one input, i think he can be straightened out in a short period of time.