whitesoxfan101

QUOTE(He_Gawn @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 06:48 PM) That is some bulls*** though. We keep dropping and we keep winning. Not exactly. The teams ahead of you are winning, winning more impressively, and just generally are better.

QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 04:15 PM) Compensation picks will stay, but they will be revised somewhat. As long as they are revised to help the smaller market teams (Jason had some good points on that topic), no worries.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 01:43 PM) Where do you hear Clay is a lock for Wisconsin? All I hear is that Clay is very questionable and that it could be either him or Dale Martin. There is also a very high possibility that Wisconsin gets neither of these players, as Clay has been constantly linked to OSU, even if it means that he has to switch to LB. But that just goes to show how long and hard the road is in football to turn around a program. Wisconsin has 3 Rose Bowl wins in the last 10 years or so. They still are not even close to being one of the elite recruiting teams in the Big 10 and they still have trouble keeping top recruits away from Michigan and OSU. As to Wisconsin being underrated, I posted about this before the season started. I asked how could Auburn be top 10, and Wisconsin unranked when Wisconsin thrashed Auburn last year and basically brought back a better team. In the bowl game against Auburn the d-line was so thin Joe Thomas played DT. It is a shame that Wisconsin played Michigan early in the season, because they still had not found their identity and had problems with having all new WR's. Barring any upsets the game against Iowa should determine who is the 3rd team in the Big 10, as its doubtful either Michigan or OSU loses 2 games, or both lose 1 game. Agreed, good post. As for Clay, I've heard he's been a silent verbal to Wisky for a while now, but then again, my sources were dead wrong on Gordon, so take it FWIW.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 03:28 PM) considering his track record mcbride's penalty should have been more severe. No doubt. If he was a first timer here, 4 games would have been fair, but considering all things, he shoulda got between 10 to 15 games IMO.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 08:47 AM) He gave up 33 HR's this season, and only 13 of those were at Safeco in 15 starts. I wouldn't be suprised moving from pitching half his games at Safeco to Citizens Bell, plus being a year older, that number rises to around 40 next season. But it shows how much of a premium and in demand getting starting pitching is. Especially left handed, these GM's would sell their children to cannibals to get even average left handed SP. Thus is why I want us to pick up the option and then trade Buehrle this offseason for the king's ransom he'd still get us, but that's a different debate.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 08:49 AM) Haha, yeah I've sort been posting that scenario a bit over the past week. Basically what I came up with was moving 2 starters, to allow you to trade for Crawford and find a 5th starter from somewhere. Getting a guy like Saito makes that possible. But I think first and foremost, KW is going to get a nice piece for the bullpen and that guy will probably be Justin Speier. My response to you is then is this. I know he's a solution to LF and a stud, but is Crawford a leadoff man solution? I know his OBP was solid last year with that high average, but he doesn't walk all that much, has a lousy career OBP, and the small OF at The Cell will turn some doubles and triples at the Trop into outs, lowering the average and OBP.

Question: By purposely not voting for either, can you in fact be making your voice heard that a change is needed in the system? I have a hard time wrestling with this one, because the only other way you could say that is voting an alternate party candidate, and they'll never win, or even come anywhere close to where a message is sent. Anyways, I think it's becoming clear nationwide (but especially in Illinois) that a new voice is needed, probably a 3rd party, with all the lies and extremism both parties are resorting to. Political moderation is dying and getting close to being completely dead among those with the power.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 08:43 AM) I just read a recent article that said the Seibu Lions were expecting Saito to join their rotation next season, so not sure what the deal is with him being posted or not. He was brutal in 04, but good in 05 (haven't seen his stats for this season FWIW). But it gives credence to the thought of trading Garcia to say the Mets or Padres for Milledge or Carillo / more prospects, and possibly dealing another starter like Contreras to get you that stud prospect to help you acquire Carl Crawford, then you could sign a Saito to fill in as that 5th starter while you let the likes of Broadway to be able to continue their development down at AAA. All the info in that post confused the hell outta me to be honest, but it reminds me that man I can't wait to see what we do this offseason.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 08:39 AM) Jamie Moyer!? That's the Jamie Moyer with the extreme flyball ratio, who gets lit up when he's not pitching in good pitching environments, so in other words, Moyer at the Cell would be a nightmare. And Redman didn't pitch that bad this season? I don't constitute a 5.71 ERA with a 76/63 K/BB ratio as being "that bad". In fact it's pretty brutal. Yeah, the Phils will regret the Moyer deal, but not because of the age and money like people think is why it'll end up dumb. They'll regret it when he gives up 30 homers or so the next 2 years in that ballpark and sees his ERA up around 5. At least the other parks in the NL East are pitcher friendly though (Florida, Washington, Atlanta, New York).

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 07:04 AM) If the Sox sign a Japanese pitcher this off season, it won't be Matsuzaka... It will be either Hiroki Kuroda or Kazumi Saito, the later who actually put up better numbers than Matsuzaka. Saito had better numbers than Matsuzaka?? Sign him up, after all, our last signing from Japan has gone pretty well.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 23, 2006 -> 08:21 AM) Maybe Billy should just name himself manager. He'll eventually just hire one of these math majors out of an Ivy league school to do it. Put a big ass set of computers in the dugout and all that.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 06:30 AM) What are Card fans saying about this? This is soooo much worse than the AJ dropped 3rd strike, IMO, but we heard about that until...well...I still hear about it. I think the Cards fans are keeping quiet for now. However, if Detroit wins this thing in 6 or 7 games, then I think you'll hear the noise.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 07:08 AM) No world wide draft? No trading of draft picks? No slotted salaries for draft picks? No salary floor/ceiling? No HGH testing? Meh, glad to see Bud really pushing to change things that need fixing... My thought exactly. It's good pub for the average fan, and I'm glad we'll have unimpeded MLB through 2011, but nothing got done here at all. But I'm sure the next commish, Andy MacPhail, will get this stuff done (and I'm not kidding about who the new commish will be, just watch. The Cub resignation is all part of that plan). And even with all that said, I am interested to see what exactly turns out to be done with comp picks for lost FA's. Not sure why they'd mess with that, as it's part of the increase in competitive balance, but hey, baseball isn't exactly the smartest group of people.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 08:16 AM) Two Cub fans here at work were saying how great it would be if they could get Joe as their bench coach. Well, one was saying that and the other said that they got one yesterday, but he couldn't remember who. I told him. They both had a bit of a "Joe would be so much better". Why are they all so in love with the guy? Yeah, he may have done good this year, but the Cubs are actually lining up their staff like a REAL team, so why do they all still want Joe? I know the standard "idiot" answer probably applies, but do you think we Sox fans, if searching for a new manager, would be dying for a Girardi over people like Lou and Trammel? Trammel and his 43-119 season in 2003 isn't much to look at, but as for Girardi, they obviously love him since he's a millitary style douchebag who went a mighty 79-83 in maybe the worst version of the NL in baseball history with a ton of young talent, while badly injuring Scott Olsen and trying to move virtually every player on the team to a new position before the GM didn't allow it. All that and he's a conservative, wimpy ass in game manager that bunts all the time and plays the appendage game to save his own ass. Sounds like a winner to me!!

Even if it had zero impact on the game itself, Rogers not being IMMEDIATELY kicked out is a joke. The last time we had a pine tar incident was the Brendan Donnelly incident in LA in '05 against Washington, and he was kicked out (which remember, nearly incited a brawl between Sciosia and Frank Robinson). The issue here is more the integrity and rules of the game than anything else IMO. And if La Russa took it easy since he's buddies with Leyland, he's an even worse and more overrated manager than I thought, which is saying a lot considering I've ripped the guy for years.

It's great news that they got it done and we have 5 more years of peace, but the only reason it did get done is the owners pussied out and put no HGH language in there as well as minimal changes to the caste system esque payroll chart in the game. The game is getting better, and more teams can win, but just imagine even how many more teams would be in it with a real shot at winning it all if the payroll spending was an even field?

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 01:58 AM) Kicking off the ball deep gainst IU also killed us. Yeah, the coverage on the kicks hasn't been spectacular either. The special teams in general has sucked, but if they just didn't have E.B. back on punts and had a real punter, they'd be 4-4 and maybe even 5-3 right now. The defense actually has played significantly above average IMO for the most part, but has been screwed by turnovers and field position, especially the ladder.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 23, 2006 -> 06:14 PM) Hadzus is down for the season. Wow, what a 2 game stretch. That is REAL bad, ugh. If they can survive a few weeks until Havlat, Nikolai, and Ruutu are healthy, they could still make the playoffs, but I wouldn't count on it. Although the division as a whole looks to be down this year, which is a plus.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 01:50 AM) I hate recruiting... but I saw this on YouTube... Thought some of you'd like to see video. Tom Lemmings Top 10 Man is Wisky going to be good for a while. They got 2 of those guys (Ogelsby is locked up, and Clay is all but locked up). The Illini have I'd say a significant shot at Benn, and a somewhat decent shot at Austin on that list as well. I hate Tom Lemming though, he's got a bigger Irish boner than Digger Phelps. Oh, and the real #1 player in this class is Noel Devine IMO. Realistically, he's actually faster than 4.3 speed, and if he can keep his ass outta trouble off the field, he's a star in the making. Most exciting running back not named Reggie Bush to come out of HS since Hershel Walker.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Oct 23, 2006 -> 02:18 PM) Drew Tate out vs. N.Ill. That's interesting. Our run defense is actually top 25 in the land and #2 in our league, so combine that with no Tate at QB, which will somewhat help our horrid pass d, as well as the fact we might FINALLY start Nicholson at QB, and we could at least make this game competitive.

The Illini's big issue has been special teams, ESPECIALLY punter and punt returner. If Duvalt was allowed to do PR's and Weatherford was still in school, the Illini win the Ohio and Indiana games and might also have won at Penn State, turning 2-6 into 4-4 or 5-3. QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 12:40 AM) I agree with this completely. I think it's one of the many things that makes college football interesting and fun, as well. Purdue has their spread offense, Nortwestern has the shotgun, etc. I like watching games where different styles of teams match up. Agreed as well. That reminds me though, that Wisconsin defense is A b**** to deal with. They have shut down just about everybody they've seen, and if they hadn't had to have dealt with Michigan at double A, they could be undefeated right now. Wisky and Rutgers are easily the 2 most underrated teams in the land right now imo. QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Oct 23, 2006 -> 08:09 PM) You just contradicted your own argument. Boise St and TCU get far from great recruiting classes. They win, because they get good players that are hungry to prove themselves and are coached well. To illustrate: Boise State 2005 4-stars - 1 3-stars - 5 2-stars - 10 2006 3-stars - 3 2-stars - 14 2007 2-stars - 6 TCU 2005 4-stars - 1 3-stars - 6 2-stars - 14 2006 3-stars - 10 2-stars - 8 2007 4-stars - 1 3-stars - 2 2-stars - 5 Hardly great recruiting classes. Neither is in a BCS league though.

4 games would have been fair....if McBride was a first time offender. Considering the incident with Luther and Aaron Spears back in '03, and now this.....I thought he'd get 10 games or so. Bruce took it too easy on him, no doubt.

This would be one of the biggest gains of the offseason. SIGN HIM UP NATTIES!!!

Steroid use is so much more rampant in the NFL than MLB, but the NFL is holier than thou, who cares. Good point though Balta, when lineman are dying at age 40, people will wake up. Merriman on the juice is about as shocking as hearing Lance Bass was gay earlier this year. QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 22, 2006 -> 05:21 PM) Peyton Manning suddenly has a running game again. They would have all year if they'd have just handed Addai the keys. Oh, and Matt Bryant has a leg of steel. Chuck Norris esque.

Beane is a longtime (before Moneyball) notorious douche, but they hated Beane in the clubhouse, which is why he almost got run last year too.