whitesoxfan101

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 11:45 PM) Some questions to be asked from this; Who's going to leadoff for you if you acquire Sheffield? Does that mean you have to sign a Pierre or Roberts to play CF. That means that there's no spot open for both Anderson and Sweeney, something which I'm not a fan of. Will Sheffield behave without a new contract? Very doubtful. And considering how KW wants to acquire "clubhouse" guys, it's not a good fit. Why trade Freddy for a power hitting OF, when you could get good young starting pitching (which is probably one of our main needs right now) in return for him? I refuse to believe this rumor. KW simply can't be this stupid.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 11:20 PM) lol, he's a stud cause he broke his nose? Nope, he's a stud because of the missed free throws and couple of silly fouls. Dude is GOING to be a stud, and all of his dunks and blocks and such are fun right now, but he's a bit of a project. Suns getting TORCHED by the Kobe-less Lakers. One day they'll learn that style can't win in the NBA. It's awful cute and fun in the regular season, but you gotta play some d and half court offense if you plan on doing anything when it counts.

I'd rather eat that s*** that they make fear factor contestants eat.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 10:26 PM) Ty Thomas broke his noise tonight. Who is that masked man.....?

Well the Heat at least showed they aren't satisfied with the ring from last year tonight.... QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 09:52 PM) Anyone hear the Kerr comment during the game? Something along the lines of "I think chicago fans are getting spoiled, they got the Bears, this Bulls team, the White Sox won the world series last year, and the cubs...oh nevermind" Yeah, I heard it. Great stuff.

Our wood was tremendous, THAT'S WAAAAAAAAAAAY BACK!!!!

Wilson Chandler and Sammy Meijia are going to cause soooo many matchup nightmares in that league. Chandler in particular should have a breakout year.

Miami forgot there was an actual game after that cute little ring ceremony.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 01:41 PM) Yes, im sure that he is a bad player because he had a slow start, im sure that is totally what type of player he is, blah blah blah 30 hr's 100+rbi's you can paint it any way you want to. The guy can flat out produce. He better be playing sidekick though. He proved last year he can't do it unless he has major lineup protection, and I still don't like the idea of a guy not showing up for 3 months, waiting for the team to die, then fattening up when the season is done to get his money. But then again, you see lots of guys like that on World Champs, so maybe your right.

If Juice makes that throw on 4th down, the Illini still win the game. Although I agree with Soxbadger after watching the tape, it shouldn't have come to that.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 06:39 AM) 3 games without a goal. Yuck. Amazing what a difference two guys can make. It's called bad management. Instead of having nobody on the team, you "improve" by building one around only a couple of guys that can't get hurt. They went from the 90's Clippers (giant suckfest of nothing) to the 2000's Cubs (relying on a couple injury prone guys).

5 for 47 for Hinrich is a pretty damn good deal. I'm surprised he'd take it, but i'm glad he's in the fold for the long haul.

Ramirez splits last year..... and then.... plus...... When the Cubs still had a shot in that AWFUL, AWFUL NL and NL Central, and when Lee got hurt, Ramirez did not step it up, at all. But then when July, the 2nd half of the year, and the the time where the Cubs were dead comes up, Ramirez all of a sudden catches fire (playing for the paper and new contract) and ends up with a great season (although deceptive) numberwise. That's what I mean by not hitting when it matters, or at least that was obviously the case in 2006. (Yes, I know I put that in the other thread too, but just wanted it in here as well for discussion purposes).

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 12:53 PM) You talking about w/RISP or close and late? He was horrible in close and late situations this year, and had a horrible average in those situations last year too. However, his OPS last year was .800, and he hit .316/.376/.541/.917 in 2004 in C&L situations. He hasn't been horrible. And there's pretty much no argument you can make that would suggest he is bad with runners on base. His average is pretty good all around. He may be a dog at times, and he may be mediocre to bad at 3B, but he's a hell of a hitter, and there's no denying that. Oh your right on all points, I agree 100 percent. However: and then.... plus...... When the Cubs still had a shot in that AWFUL, AWFUL NL and NL Central, and when Lee got hurt, Ramirez did not step it up, at all. But then when July, the 2nd half of the year, and the the time where the Cubs were dead comes up, Ramirez all of a sudden catches fire (playing for the paper and new contract) and ends up with a great season (although deceptive) numberwise. That's what I mean by not hitting when it matters, or at least that was obviously the case in 2006. With that said though.....if the Cubs lose him, it would be a crushing blow. Joe Randa or Mark DeRosa at 3B is a bit of a dropoff. Either that, or they get A-Rod, but lose Zambrano.

QUOTE(whitesox61382 @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 11:25 PM) One rumor is that Benn did not qualify for early enrollment at ND, and that is the reason that ND has been dropped. Anytime you loss out on the calibur of player of Benn it hurts, however, I think that ND will be fine in the long-run. They already have a commitment from the 5th best WR in the country(according to Rivals), and are 50/50 to land Greg Little the 6th best athlete in the country(will likely play receiver). Plus, with Weis's offense I have little doubt that they will continue to attract attention from top receivers in the future. Not sure if you are actually saying that Benn and Austin are a package deal or that they would be a nice package if they somehow ended up at the same school, but they have stated for a while they they are NOT a package deal. I still believe that UI chances of landing Austin are very slim to say the least(likely heading to USC or Miami). However, Benn is looking more realistic as the days go by. #1: Benn is a minimal loss for ND right now. They are recruiting the hell outta things in football. #2: Benn and Austin aren't a package deal, persay. However things look like they are starting to work out so that as soon as one picks a school, the other will follow him there. QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 11:50 PM) I told you guys a long time ago not to be suprised of Benn ends up at Illinois. Here's another factor in his recruitment. From Jamie Newberg, Scout.com's main football recruiting analyst. "In addition, Benn’s best friend is Vontae Davis. Davis is Vernon Davis’s little brother and he’s from Dunbar High School, the home of Benn. Vontae Davis is one of the top freshmen in the country playing cornerback." "Something tells me we are all going to be a little surprised with Benn’s decision and don’t be surprised if he pulls the shocker of the year and decides on Illinois." Plus, Illinois also has Travon Bellamy (the guy who had the pick 6 at Wisky last weekend) who is from that area and friends with Vontae and Arrelious.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 10:54 PM) Wait just a minute... Are you saying constantly dropping passes makes the WR core a weakness? Depth at WR, to respond to Rex Hudler...yeah, not a problem here, Well, to be fair, the Illini WR's make up for all the drops by not getting any sort of seperation from the defenders.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 10:51 PM) I think Mackowiak should be the odd man out. With Cintron and Gload on the bench, I'm happy with the lefty bats we have. Also, getting rid of Mackowiak would ease our blood pressure, as Ozzie won't be able to keep putting him in CF. He'll put Gload out there or something. Ozzie is a lock to do 3 or 4 things every year on a consistent basis just to ruin my life.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 10:32 PM) Ramirez puts up great numbers, but as stated before, the guy is a dog. The Cubs would be far better off without him. If they really are raising their payroll to $120 million as been reported, they will be able to spend a lot on free agents, and Hendry usually has no problem finding teams that will give him something good for nothing if he picks up a contract. As nice as Ramirez numbers usually turn out, this is addition by subtraction if you ask me. I agree, in theory, with every word of what you say. However, who the hell is going to play 3B for them next year? Joe Randa? They need Ramirez' home runs badly, as a team that is HORRIBLE with power as it is, and they have nobody in their system even close to MLB calibur at 3B. It's a catch 22, because losing a dog like him and his 11 million dollar a year paper isn't bad, but they have nobody that can play 3B for them if he leaves, and there isn't much out there on the market, unless of course you want to dump Carlos Zambrano for A-Rod.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 10:23 PM) Illinois' big weakness this year defensively is on the D-Line and the Zooker might be getting 3 of the top 5 D-lineman in the nation. That would be f'in sweet. I disagree. The Illini's biggest weaknesses have been, by far, WR and special teams. If those 2 facets of the team were just below average (instead of awful), 2-7 would be at least 5-4, more likely 6-3. However, yeah 3 of the top 5 d linemen in the nation would be nice.

QUOTE(chimpy2121 @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 10:23 PM) Many down here feel the same. There was actually some talk about a little bit of racism coming into play. I don't know how much water that holds, but anythings possible with the Old Man. It's nice knowing that a 5*, #1 dual-threat QB will finally get a shot. I give him a lot of credit for sticking with it this far and not transferring. The threat of transfer might be part of why he's starting, along with the record. There have been whispers he'd transfer after this year if he didn't get a shot.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 10:24 PM) Blanco's pretty well known for being a good game caller, has a cannon for an arm(which will in turn obviously help shut down the running game, which would be nice as hell to have some sort of arm with Contreras/Garcia on the mound), and he has always hit LHP pretty well, atleast in regards with slugging. I think it'd be a wise investment to bring in Blanco, not a poor one. It may just mean that Cintron has to go. I'm aware of the bolded, which is the main reason why I don't want Blanco. I have no faith that Mack can play 3rd if Joe's back falls off, but I do have faith Cintron can. And I'm not convinced the organization is ready to let Fields play (or if Josh is even ready to play) there everyday if Joe's back has a significant issue. It's one thing to put Fields at 3B and say good luck rookie if we had A Rod at SS, it's another to do so with Uribe still at SS.

That is SPECTACULAR!!! I'll have to show up early for the first game I go to and get some pics with those seats. Great, great idea....kudos to Brooks.

QUOTE(chimpy2121 @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 09:55 PM) Xavier Lee to start Saturday. This brings some optimism to a lost season. I don't get why they ever started Weatherford over him. At all.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 10:08 PM) If he goes to the Angels, the Angels get stronger, but it takes away the Yankees' best trading partner if they really do want to get rid of ARod. Making it at least interesting for us. I'm surprised the Cubs didn't make a stronger push to resign him. I'm not, they NEVER spend the biggest of money on the biggest of players.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 04:29 PM) If I am the Angels, I am giving him Konerko-type money. You'd give A Ram Konerko type money? I think he very well may GET that type of money, but I wouldn't want to be the team giving him that kind of paper. But the Angles do need a bat, so they probably will do it, however Scoscia isn't going to like A Ram when he sees how much of a dog he is in terms of hustle and how he hits when it matters.