YASNY

QUOTE(TheDybber @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 12:18 PM) Yas...who would be your top ten. I'm guessing Duke, UNC, Kentucky, and Kansas...but who else? Connecticut? Wake? Zona? Michigan State? Just curious. You have to remember that I am looking at things over a perspective of a "few" years more than most here are. In no particular order ...... Duke, UNC, UK, KU, UConn, MSU, Zona, Syracuse, OK State, Maryland. Just miss: Stanford, Illini, Louisville, Wake Forest, Gonzaga, Utah, Oklahoma.

We have question marks on staff, no doubt about it. I like our odds of having the majority of those questions answered positively as compared with previous years. I also like the odds as compared to other teams in the league. The bullpen's depth should make the starting rotation that much stronger, and having BMac waiting in wings could prove to be HUGE before this year is out.

It was said we were weak up the middle defensively, and I have to disagree. Starting with AJ, last year our catchers were Olivo, Alomar and Burke ... the Davis in place of Alomar. Olivo had a great arm, but was nothing special defensively otherwise. His game calling contributed to his getting traded, and that is a big part of the overall defensive aspects of catching. AJ, I don't know about his day in day out defensive game yet, but I know this much. When he was sitting behind the plate for the Twins, the Sox players HATED him. He got into their heads. There may not be a stat for that, but it should be part of the equation. At SS, we have a gold glove caliber guy there in Uribe. Valentin was not the defensive butcher a lot make him out to be, but Uribe should prove to be an improvement in the making plays department. If he has 75% of the baseball instincts that JV has, he'll be an upgrade at SS. Iguchi ... who knows? He was very good with the leather in Japan, but he's not in Japan now. He, apparently, has the capabilities if we give him to make some adjustments. We do have slick Willie as late inning replacement if needed and he's good with glove. Rowand is Rowand .... that balances from last year of course. The only difference this year is Podsednik serves as a capable backup when ARow is not in the lineup. He'll be better in CF than Harris, Everett or Borchard were.

QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:36 PM) It would benefit him to get a few more starts under his belt at the lower levels and besides we already have a pretty solid starting 5. When you consider what we are paying them and unless there are injuries or Contreras goes to complete s*** we won't be seeing Brandon right away. I believe he'll be in the rotation by the trade deadline, July 31.

QUOTE(ptatc @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 09:19 PM) The problem I have with it is that he went from the Sox being one of the 10 worst to the ALC title because of Dye???? If the Twins went down enough that Dye made the big difference then why weren't the Twins on his list of the 10 worst off seasons. He may have just changed his mind but that is an awful lot of "windsocking." The Sox, according to Neyer, were one of the 10 worst to improve themselves in the offseason. Someone mentioned the Angels offseason as being lame, but they still have Vlad. It is not an illogical conclusion to assume that while not impressed with the offseason moves, he feels the Sox are strong enough to win the central based on what was already here and the fact the Twins lost the left side of the infield.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 06:08 PM) He made a mistake and admitted it. That's why all newspapers have the little oops square -- this happens every day. If you want to argue with his analysis, go ahead. But the NYT makes dumb mistakes, that doesn't mean it's a "hack" paper. Deadlines mean errors, deal with it. The NYT is a mistake.

Poor guy. Put on waivers and claimed by Tampa Bay. That's gotta hurt.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:54 AM) You can stop there. Too funny! Ok. I'm done talking with someone that responds to facts with garbage. Good day, Jugger.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:48 AM) One had nothing to do with the other. They were planning to trade Lee the whole time. That was blatantly obvious. Was it? I'm seem to recall and board-wide element of shock after the Lee deal. Facts are facts. They acquired Hermanson while Lee's salary was still on the books. There was no guarantee that they would find a deal for Lee that they would accept. After the Lee deal, then they sign El Duque. Those are the facts ... and that is "blatantly obvious".

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:44 AM) I think Michael Jackson is an upstanding citizen, how about you YAS?

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:14 AM) I guess you'd need to define elite, if we are talking top 10 programs in the country, no I would not list them there....yet. That works. For the record guys, I do pull for the Illini in the Big 10. I'm not trying to start a brawl here. Just trying to put things into perspective. Enjoy St. Louis.

QUOTE(Beastly @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:41 AM) wasn't taking it personally...I was kidding with quickman Its okay, i just hope Burke doesn't get claimed, he's pretty good for a backup Burke will not get claimed. He was signed to minor league contract and has been assigned to Charlotte.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:29 AM) Got something else you want to talk about? I think anything else would be a welcome change. Wait .... No damn politics!

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:24 AM) QUOTE: Sure, eight of his 16 hits have come in two games, but consistency is so overrated. I prefer to look at this as the glass being 1/2 full. He's been working out in a batting cage at home all winter long so I know his bat speed, strength, & conditioning is there this season. All he needed was to get his timing down for the filthy stuff ML pitcher's throw. Going 4-4 in any game is very difficult to do. Having 8 hits in 2 games is strong evidence it's finally clicked for him. If he continues to do this for the rest of ST I'll be very hopefully for Joe's last year w the ChiSox. If he has his best year to date Boras is going to want big $'s for him. I don't see the ChiSox overpaying for Crede. Well let's hope Crede sucks this year so we can still afford him.

Great! Now, because KW traded Elo, Burke didn't make that team. :headshake

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 11:05 AM) i dont know why the odds are that they are going to be better. They had alot of players who played over their heads, I think the odds are that they will regress. What I'm saying .. the key word in my previous post ... is young players progress and it's a reasonable conclusion to assume that they will continue progressing.

Let's make this simple for the people that think Burke should have made the team. He didn't.

Wait. Illinois is not an "elite program" .... yet. They have good players from a good recruiter being coached by a good X & O guy. One year does not an elite program make. They may get there, and I hope they do.

QUOTE(TheDybber @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 10:25 AM) Don't forget that the entire bench, with Davis, was left handed batters. Timo, Willie and Ross. With Widger, you have a RH batter with some pop. Then you have your slasher with Ozuna. Now they have a balanced bench. The bottom line is that the powers that be felt the Widger would fit better with the team than Burke or Davis. I'm sure it's combination of pros and cons that have been weighed. I don't see what all the consternation over a career minor league non-roster invitee is all about.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 10:16 AM) I dont understand why everyone thinks the Indians are going to be the best offensive team around. I see a bunch of players who had career years. How often can that be repeated?? Not to mention a pitching staff that has been horrrible, a terrible bullpen anchored by Rhodes (uhh) and Wickman. I dont see Millwood having an ERA under 5 this year. They had a bunch of young players that had career years ... so far. What they do from here on out, remains to be seen. The odds are some of them are going to at least perform as well, if not better, than last year.

Technically, Burke was a non-roster invitee. Just saying.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 09:58 AM) It's not just about poor offensive numbers with Willie and Crede. If they could make productive outs, Ozzie and Co. wouldn't be so hard on them. For Willie, its about the easy 2 hop GB to 2b, the lack of bunting ability, the pop flies. For Joe, it's about the pop out, and the 3 pitch at bat strikeout. Even if players don't have great offensive numbers, if they can move runners over, hit to the opposite field, and consistently have AB's where they make the pitchers work, that kind of offense is needed. I think hitters who are consistently tough outs are granted a longer leash than those who aren't. So far, Willie and Joe haven't been consistently tough outs for the Sox. Their outs have been consistently tough on Sox fans. :headshake

QUOTE(JimH @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 09:52 AM) Great post. This should be resurrected every time somebody trots out the "why do the White Sox s*** on Jamie Burke" mantra. I agree with Tex about this being a wake up call for Ben Davis, whether he agrees to the Charlotte assignment or not. Davis had his wake up call when Seattle sent him to minors before the '04 season. Edited to add: Actually, I think he started the season on the big club, but sucked so bad they sent him down early.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 08:36 AM) This just goes to show that if KW didn't relent and sign AJ, the catching situation would have been brutal. AJ falling into KW's lap is one of the luckiest things that has happened this past off-season. Lucky to the extent that AJ became available. KW did have to be the one to sign him. Give him credit for getting it done.