YASNY

You know, that's a very good point. Ozzie's player evaluation judgements have been pretty much right on the money.

I watch Fox News, as I am generally conservative in my viewpoints. However, I still think both of these candidates should be ..... in the interest of staying out of jail, let me say it like this ..... put out to pasture.

With all that lack of execution resulting in those wasted opportunities, you can see the Sox are getting their minor league players prepared to play White Sox baseball. :headshake

This goes hand in hand with my contention that we need to start letting these young guys mature in the minor leagues and not be so quick to rush them up the ladder. While they are down there, the should be taught the right way to play the game. There should never be a minor league hitter come up to the Sox that does not know how to execute a sacrifice bunt or a hit and run. Every minor leaguer should get a small stipend ($10 or so) everytime they hit a hard line drive that hits the screen protecting the pitcher during batting practice. Muscle memory to hit the ball hard up the middle should already be in place by the time they get to AAA. They should be well school schooled on the defensive fundamentals .... hitting the cut off man, being a cut off man, when to cut, how to set your self up for a throw from the outfield, how to block pitches if you're a catcher, etc. Pitchers should be taught three things ... attack, attack and attack. And when that fails, attack.

You do good work. Not much of it, but good work regardless.

Suggestion. To stretch things out through the offseason, have one vote/award per week. Here's a catagory for you, also. Sox grinder of the year.

Congrats to the Red Sox. They're lucky to have Bossard design their field. Though, I think the Sox (White) should demand Damon as compensation.

Ya think?

You keep trying to fawn off all of Boston's excess baggage on us. What's up with that?

John Kruk had some interesting remarks about Loaiza. He prefaced his remarks by apologizing in advance in case Loaiza has a sore arm, the he went to say that, basically, Loaiza quit on his teammates last night. He said he was throwing nothing but junk.

I have to agree with Cheat. In fact, .285 BA was precisely the number I had in mind. But I think, over a 3 or 4 year period he'll be closer to a .300 hitter. I'd say .285 may be his worse average for a full season over that period.

Some things are better left as they are.

If you have something to actually say, go for it.

Gload's pretty solid. I don't think he can give us enough production as a starter, but he's a very valueable bench player.

He kept us in the game. That's acceptable. Barely. He can help us get through the rest of the season, but I don't want to depend on Grilli as 5th starter next year and the Sox end up going through this nightmare for third consecutive season.

I agree with you 100%. Valentin is an above average shortstop, defensively. The groundballs he gets to that other shortstops wave at more than makes up for the ones he boots. He's also been a field general and a very good baserunner. Jose has been a good ballplayer for the Sox for 5 years. However, in the interest of redesigning this team, I feel it's time for the Sox to let Jose move on. As I've stated countless times, the core of this team has failed and it's time to change the core. Jose is part of that core.

You let the Twins, Tigers, Royals and Indians see him 10 or more times each next year, and you'll be wishing for Billy Koch back. EDIT: Ok, that's a bit much. But you get my point.

Forget Guardado .... He'll be out till July or August of next year. I don't know what they have planned, but I'd be very shocked if the come out of spring training with Shingo in the closer's role.

Sorry Mr. Zero, but I think that is precisely what they have planned.

See my comments about this in the Jamie Burke thread.

I don't believe Shingo is the answer for a whole season. Each of the teams in the AL Central will see us 19 times next year. How many times can Shingo use "deception" to get these same guys out time and time again? Shingo would be nice as a setup guy and a backup or occasional closer, but I don't want to count on him as our "stud" closer for next year.

Rowand is a solid ballplayer. I've been talking that since joining Soxtalk. I don't think he'll be a consistent .320 hitter for the next 4 years. But, I believe he'll give us solid production for the next 4 years, barring injury.

You have the right to disagree with this policy. No problem there. You do not, however, have the right to call someone a f***ing moron. Though, at times, that might seem like an appropriate thing to do.

When I saw this trade scroll across the bottom line, I read it as Ben Sheets! For a split second I was thinking they had just really struck gold.

This stuff reminds me of the Caray-Piersal days back with the Sox.