YASNY

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ May 10, 2007 -> 06:54 AM) yeah he has been. Tony was talking about the fact that Podsednik should be nowhere near the starting lineup, "healthy" or not. Okay. My bad. Thanks.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 8, 2007 -> 04:04 PM) What a joke. Really? I was under the impression Erstad has been doing quite well since being moved to the leadoff spot.

Yes. Yes I am.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Apr 20, 2007 -> 08:54 PM) Looking back at Mark's last start before the no-hitter, he has now thrown 15 consecutive shutout innings, and an amazing 11 1/3 consecutive no-hit innings. I wonder what the record is for consecutive no-hit innings. The name escapes me ... and it's driving me nuts because I should know it ... but someone back in the 60's? pitched back to back no-no's.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 10:45 AM) Actually Willie Mays won Rookie of the Year as a 20 year old with the New York Giants, he was pretty amazing in his first go round as a major leaguer. Vida Blue on the other hand was pretty terrible as a 19 year old rookie in 1969. Take a look at Willie's first 50 or so at bats.

Just because Boone Logan gagged it last year, as a 21 year old rookie by the way, doesn't mean he will again. This kid has a future. Another year of maturity and having gone through the experience last year may have given him the mindset he needs to be successful. I hate when people write off a young player because he s*** the bed on his first exposure to the majors. If everyone had that attitude, Willie Mays would have been labeled a bust.

QUOTE(StatManDu @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 10:58 PM) There's somethng to be said, though, for being there and for feeling so strongly about a subject that you want to be there to testify. I don't think Frank was shilling for anybody. I think if he had been given the chance to speak he would have gone off on the subject. Maybe that's why he wasn't. He wasn't able to speak anymore because they lost the sattelite link.

Ex-Yankee 2B Bobby Richardson was another name involved with KY politics. He was at the state level, but I'm not sure of the actual office he held.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Mar 11, 2007 -> 02:06 PM) Do you mean in the sense that he'd be a starter anywhere else? Not necessarily. In fact, it doesn't matter whether he'd start elsewhere. I just don't see Mack having a spot on the Sox and feel he'll be moved.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 11, 2007 -> 01:53 PM) What about having just a real good, versatile bat off the bench especially when there's no pressing need to move him to open up a spot? Not everyone has to fit into a specific spot defensively, it's nice to have a guy who can do all the things Mack can on your bench even if he's not serving as a backup to a specific position. Besides, there's no one on this team I would rather have backing up Dye than Mackowiak. Or maybe I just think it's valuable to have a guy with his outstanding batting eye at Ozzie's disposal, no one else who's going to make this team as a bench player can do all the things Mack can, especially take a walk. I just don't think Mack "fits" well with this team. I expect him to be traded. I don't have any problem with keeping him, but I believe he'll be shipped out.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Mar 11, 2007 -> 01:38 PM) Mack isn't only a OF. He is a 3B, 2B, and would likely be the back-up 1B in place of Gload. Uribe can play 3B in pinch, with Cintron filling in at SS. Ozuna can also play 2B and 3B. If Crede is DL'ed, we call up Fields. Behind Konerko there's Hall, Thome, and possibly Perez. Mack's useless to us now.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Mar 11, 2007 -> 01:33 PM) I strongly disagree. Mackowaik is one of the best bench guys in all of baseball, and his versitility makes this team that much better. Also, he is a top pinch hitter. He came through big time a couple times last season. Mack's history, I believe. With Pods and Erstad, we really don't have a need for anothe LH hitting OF.

Carry on, then.

I don't believe Bunning was ever Governor of Kentucky.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Mar 11, 2007 -> 12:32 PM) All right, what about this one? This is a 1968. It's your money! Buy what you want and to hell with what anyone else thinks about it.

Floyd ends up with the 5th starter spots because they decide Danks would be better served in AAA. The bullpen consists of Jenks, MacD, Thornton, Sisco, Logan and one of Aardsma/Masset/Haeger. Mackowiak gets dealt ... I have believed that would happen since Erstad was signed. Call it a hunch, but I think BA will pick it up and make the team.

QUOTE(southsida86 @ Mar 9, 2007 -> 05:27 PM) It is my belief that Floyd only has 1 minor league option left, but I am not 100% sure. Can someone confirm or deny this? Is there a website that I can go to in order to find out whether or not this is true? If so, then I believe we are stuck with him as our 5th starter whether he produces or not. If he has one option left, then he can be sent to AAA with no worries. I wouldn't call that as being stuck with him.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 04:21 PM) It doesn't matter whether JV's contract is "under market value" or better than Gil Meche's. That is completely irrelevant. What matters is whether he will continue to perform as he has over the past several years and be a .500 pitcher with an ERA in the high-4s, or will he learn to command his stuff and start winning like Jon Garland has done. If it is the former, then this was a bad deal b/c between Floyd, Gio, Danks, Haeger, Masset, Sisco, Phillips, Broadway, etc., etc., etc. we ought to be able to find an extra pitcher by 2009 for the ML minimum who can be a .500 pitcher with an ERA in the high-4s. Then we could take the $10 million saved and devote it to building an outfield of major league players. Forget about Buehrle -- he's not coming back given the current market for pitchers. But the guy we could keep with that extra money almost won league-MVP honors last year and was the MVP of our WS victory. If Javy somehow starts turning in 17-10 seasons, with ERAs in the low 4s or high 3s, then this deal will have been worth it. I think the likelihood of that is not high, but it is high enough that I'm not completely trashing this deal. One other point -- forget about KW suddenly MOVING JV. It ain't going to happen. He's been after the guy for years, and now that he got him, he extended him out longer than any other pitcher on our staff. If JV collapses, KW won't be able to move him, and if he continues at his mediocre level, KW will always hope he can turn it around. I expect, for good or bad, we are going to have JV around for the next 4 years. That last line makes me think the possibility of Mark getting 4 years is possible. Effectively, Javy now has a 4 year/$47 million contract.

We gave up a couple of pretty decent prospects to get MacD. There is no way KW trades him for ARow.

I've seen a few pretty damn good knuckballers pitch out of the Sox pen over the years. A good knucklball pitcher can be a very valuable asset in the bullpen. You guys that say it can't work because of this or because of that, you're wrong. I've seen it work and work quite well.

The fact that we have so many dissenting opinions on this signing tells me that it's probably in the proper range. Given that the current market is the current market, I think this is a pretty good deal by KW. I doubt that you'll see a market correction anytime soon. Boras, when talking recently about ARod's contract and whether or not he'd opt out, said that when ARod signed that deal baseball was a $30 billion per year industry, and now it's double that. I'm not sure about the numbers there, but the point is made. As for the concern expressed about what Garland would feel about this, he signed his multiyear deal before the market exploded. He knows he's got another huge contract coming his way.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Feb 28, 2007 -> 10:44 AM) hmmm, JD has an MVP caliber season and we drop him to 5th? that's dumb. I believe that by the time this all plays out, the middle of the line up will eventually be Dye, Thome, Paulie. Two main reasons for this: Dye can get around the bases quicker than the other two and it breaks up the glut of lefties at the top of the lineup.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Mar 1, 2007 -> 12:24 PM) Anybody else try the thumb test above and then look at ptatc's avatar and go "Oh s***!!" anyway, informative post dude. thanks! I tried it. I could only get it to close to the 5 o'clock position.

The In-Crede-Bulls

I just finished watching "The Sands of Iwo Jima". I know it was made with a bias toward the U. S. but there is some profound truths to messages that movie sends. We were a great nation and a great people at that time. What has happened to this nation in the 60 something years since the end of WWII? The men that fought and died in WWII would roll over in their graves if they could see what has become of the USA. The freedoms that those great men died for, we are allowing to be taken away from us. Bush is selling out our sovereinty (I for the life of me can't remember how to spell that word) and whittling away at our freedoms. Our constitution is nothing more than a dusty relic. Congress hasn't issued a declaration of war since 1941. That war ended in 1945. Since then we've had Korea, Viet Nam, Grenada and Iraq twice, with Iran in the cross hairs. How the hell can this be? Why has Congress failed to do their duty to uphold the checks and balances spelled out in the constitution? Why have we allowed them to falter so dramatically without raising hell? The media has spent so much time focusing on the likes of O. J. Simpson, Natalie Holloway, Anna Nicole Smith and Brittany Spears that we can't see the forest for the trees. We are being fed Pablum when we need meat and potatoes. Yet, we are settling for, accepting, the Pablum. As a 49 year old man, I am ashamed that this has happened to our formally great nation on 'my watch'. I have let down the generations that are to follow me and I'm sickened by that fact. I just wish that I knew what to do about it.