Princess Dye

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 18, 2013 -> 10:25 AM) Just disregard the guy the Sox got for him helped them win a WS. Can't posters find something legitimate to complain about? That wasn't my point at all. The only point there was that we can develop someone (which sadly some--maybe not you--tend to not believe). The trade with SEA was great, we'd all do it 100x over.

Mike Morse. Former White Sox prospect, who was busy here developing at the same time the organization was taking Brian Anderson and, as some here would insist, were ruining him. Because they're so bad at developing people.

that little angry near-fetus on the youtube's gonna be thrice pissed now

FICKEL IS EINHORN

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 02:32 PM) Biggio got about 70% this year. Do people really think that Frank will have less first ballot support than Craig Biggio? The only guy who dominated that era more than Frank is Griffey, and I think Griffey will be a guy who is famous for being up around 99% of the vote. The argument can also be made that Biggio being left out HURTS Frank's chances... in that it shows how serious they are about getting a message sent about the entire era. A pal of mine was just saying that the Biggio thing terrifies him about Frank's prospects (b/c Craig is not some predictable roider name that should have been punished). And if you want to keep it to sluggers, also consider Piazza. Greatest hitting catcher ever? Not a first balloter. This happened sans proof. Frank is also a sans-proof guy. Meanwhile Frank has his years of DHing (likely not an issue on its own) and now an era's stigma to battle.

Since Detroit is better than the Sox, I think it's perfectly natural to expect bounces to go their way. If they don't then that will be the surprise. And we'll welcome it.

We're waiting while others set the market It's a way to get deals, and in the MLB you have to make savvy deals (even if you are a big spender) It's not cheapness, it's what puts you over the top. To manage your resources the best way possible. We can look at the teams that made huge fast moves and played 0 postseason games. It's time to be smart

By this metric, Marko Jaric is on permanent NBAJam fire mode despite being out of the league

Kubel definitely has a role here. Platoon with Viciedo as well as insurance for what is now to-be-expected PK time off

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 05:06 PM) I still don't get why people think we are so far away from the Tigers. We outscored them by 22 runs last year, while only allowing 6 more runs. We were pretty much even with them last year in terms of production. Honestly, if Thornton doesn't blow 10+ games and Ventura doesn't make some major rookie mistakes, we could have won the division. And IMO the only guys who really overachieved last year were A.J., Rios, & Quintana. Dunn & Konerko sucked in the 2nd half, Ramirez had a bad year, and we didn't get much from Viciedo and Beckham. Sure, Peavy & Sale gave us excellent years, but they're both very talented pitchers. They could break down this year, but so could Verlander and the rest of the Tigers' pitching staff. I just think the two teams are a lot closer than most people think. The Sox need their Dunn/Rios bounceback years to hold. We're 10 months removed from relentlessly ripping these guys 24/7 here. Sox need Konerko's age to not be a problem. They added a guy in Kepp who needs his career year to repeat, just to match what Youk gave us. Lets also not forget Peavy can't be guaranteed to be that same rock as last year, nor are we sure what we'll get from John Danks. As far off years that could return to the mean, we basically have Alexei and that's it. There are plenty of reasons to feel big change is still needed. Last year's team can't play for us next year.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 12:11 PM) I don't know if it's been mentioned in this thread, but how about Berkman as a LH bat? He might be a bit costly, but he could DH and play 1B with a very slim chance of playing some RF. It should be interesting to see what he costs. Every year there are a few guys at the end of free agency that for whatever reason slipped into a lower than value contract. Hm. One would think that for what he costs, he'd be going to a team that can play him DH/1B every day.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 11:24 AM) Even less so... Well the thing with internet versus thrown-at-you media..... there's just more of everything. That includes the irrelevant as well as the relevant. So here the tradeoff is we have MORE expert statistical analysis, more attention to farm system, etc. than the radio can provide. But we also have MORE utter foolishness, crap, etc. And there's no gatekeeper here to hang up on a caller (though we can edit/block each other some)

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 10:27 AM) Scandalous. Sports radio must really be dying if they have to spend time talking about girlfriends on the team plane. One more thought: you post on a sports message board. If sports radio is mired in the irrelevant, we're all here are wading in it right next to 'em.

I do respect what AJ did on the field. But like with anyone else, it's just the amount of respect his overall play deserves and nothing more. You really put your pitcher in a bind when you are not a threat to throw people out at second. Last year has to be called an aberration in this regard, since we have a large sample size to go off. And Flowers might not be the answer for that either, but it's time to solidify that spot defensively. It's very rough to constantly have a catcher that is inflating his BA by swinging at everything, and then NOT having the defensive component either. Because we love AJ the player, we tend to like him more than we should. Again, last year has to be seen as an aberration or we are fooling ourselves. The guy we know is a guy who swings a ton (to just get to, say, .280 avg), lets walks be damned, and thus lets opposing pitchers extend their stay in games.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 10:27 AM) Scandalous. Sports radio must really be dying if they have to spend time talking about girlfriends on the team plane. The importance of the story very obviously is not up for debate. This is a story I enjoy, and I thank them for it.

Just got an email from a pal who listened. His synopsis: Last season Robin allowed girlfriends to fly on the charter jet on road trip. Apparently wives were only allowed with Ozzie. All season long, AJ openly complained about this, sometimes in front of said gf's. This pissed a lot of the single Sox off big time.

I'm hoping someone will. I had to turn off my audio and am going to catch the podcast whenever it comes up

Looks like Spiegel on 670 devoted some of Hour 1 today to "secret AJ tales". Danny Mac show (with McNeil absent today I believe)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 27, 2012 -> 04:20 PM) It's just crazy to say this isn't a powerful team on paper. That's the one thing they're still really good at on paper. Understood. With that stressed, I am on board. This team is just so damn mercurial. Take Alexei. He showed his first two years he could succeed at working on different things (sacrificing walks for power, or the reverse). Then last year of course, he decided to sacrifice both. Yay

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 27, 2012 -> 04:11 PM) Not a terrifyingly powerful lineup? Compared to last year, they've subtracted Pierzynski, who hit a lot of HR, but replaced him with a guy who, if he can ever make contact, has every ability to match that HR production in flowers. Viciedo, Alexei, maybe Konerko if his bone chip has been dealt with, maybe Beckham if his head ever gets screwed on right, also have the ability to add in some HR. They got 15 HR out of third base last year, mostly by Youk, and instead replaced with the 9 HR hit by Keppinger, maybe down to 6-7 if he has a more normal year for him. Those small decreases might be a problem...if we hadn't hit the 3rd most HR in the AL last year already. So we lose a few going from Youk to Kep...we also have a power upside, with Viciedo, Flowers, and the middle-infield capable of increasing HR. If that's not a "terrifyingly powerful lineup", then Texas didn't have a terrifyingly powerful lineup last year either, since the Sox outhomered them by 11 last year. This is relying on last year to repeat, and off years to bounce back. We do this every year and it's never that easy. Most often times, you get, lets say, a Rios returning to earth and a different one has a production spike. And you cant reliably predict which ones will go up or down, so it's all hopefulness. Viciedo is such a total x-factor. You're making it sound like 25 hr is happening again as just a starting point. This is still a guy who is either going to be a hitting coach's pet project or a still wild unpredictable strongheaded dude every time he goes up there. The eternal wait for Beckham to "screw his head on straight" makes me think....the screw is badly, permanently stripped. May be time to nail him to a wall, no less.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 27, 2012 -> 03:24 PM) Here's a fun game: Take the projected lineup above and compare their 2011 OPS totals (Keppinger's was with TB) with the 2011 AL averages for their respective positions (in the field, not in the batting order). Without looking it up, how many differentials can you match to the correct players? +.097 +.080 +.067 +.042 +.003 +.001 -.005 -.014 -.020 Would think those last three slots are occupied in some order by Beckham, Ramirez, Viciedo

QUOTE (Lamar Johnson 23 @ Dec 27, 2012 -> 11:37 AM) That's my major problem...the team IS built for "win now", but they're not doing enough. Not yet, anyway. I know, it's only December. Money has been spent. No matter what happened last year, we are still living scarred by those bad Rios and Dunn seasons. And hell, the injury plagued Peavy seasons. Those were the big moves, along with more Paul Konerko seasons. These moves were supposed to be enough, and either they will have to keep being what they were last year, or last year needs to have built up some serious trade value in those guys (or someone). We can't attack this offseason until the offseason happens. It's not just that it's "only" December. As a fan, you shouldn't want us rushing into trades that aren't maximizing the value we can get back. Your impatience is not on my priority list. I want the best team and will look at the team upon the roster's completion.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 27, 2012 -> 10:58 AM) retool, rebuild, reset. A different team took the field. And you know what, the Sox arent rebuilding now because one position ( C) where a young player took the position of a longtime veteran. There was a hell of a lot more turnover in 05 than there is now. Both corner outfelders, closer(s), set up, catcher, 4th and 5th starters, both middle infielders, and DH(split time with Carl and Frank). We arent seeing that this season and Lamar is freaking out about a rebuild In general I'm with you. This team is built for 'win now'... has vets...and if the upcoming moves weren't going to also reflect that, we'd have seen some salary dumping instead of the Keppinger contract. We also have no farm system, so 'win now' is kind of the date we brought to the dance and are stuck with. In '05 we always forget that we went into that year with a first ballot HOF player on the roster. Only in retrospect do we see it as a year where spare parts were just whipped into place and they all magically worked. We owe so much to the crap-relievers-turned-wonders in Cotts and Politte. And the whole Jenks thing also.

Note: The offseason is not over. Thus everything about your thread is invalidated. Note complete.

05 was a retool.