TaylorStSox

Do I get a life time contract? My posting volume has coincided with good teams.

I just picked up Cloud Atlas. Holy boring, Batman.

Red Sox. I used to hate the Yankees until they came here a few years ago. Everyone knows they travel well, but their fans were all into the game and respectful. It gave me a different perspective.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 9, 2012 -> 10:19 AM) Well I suppose that is another way to go - find a better 2B and make Beckham the utility guy. He can cover 2B very well, 3B pretty well, probably SS in a pinch, runs pretty good, has a little pop occasionally. Somehow I don't think the Sox are finding that guy in August. One can dream.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 9, 2012 -> 09:42 AM) Danks is actually not the guy I'd be most concerned with upgrading anyway. Him and Flowers are fine, IMO, for the bench. It is Olmedo and Hudson that really need replacing. Need a professional utility IF, if one is available. One who can defend at least 2 IF positions well (Hudson can only really field 1 well), has some speed for PR duties, and maybe can hit .250. You just described Gordon Beckham. What really need is a real second baseman.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Aug 8, 2012 -> 11:17 PM) wow,that is so awful. i cant imagine theres a worse bench I can, they could be 85-439. Oh, the humanity!!!

If the money were equal, I'd go with Flowers/Youk over AJ/Morel for a number if reasons.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Aug 6, 2012 -> 11:02 PM) He's had an awful April and July. May: .261 .310 5HR June: .271 .315 4HR If he was just more consistent.. let's hope for a good August and September. You can say the same thing about every other bad hitter in baseball. That was a big hit last night and a nice, solid team win.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 5, 2012 -> 12:56 PM) Think of it as the possibility of payroll flexibility to add some players via free agency. If you're referring to Peavy and Youk possibly leaving via FA, then I say "thanks for your performance in 2012" and gladly take the 31 million dollars and use it elsewhere. Easier said than done. The South Side has never been attractive to free agents.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Aug 3, 2012 -> 11:54 PM) I love seeing Rios celebrating with his teammates. The guy looked miserable all of last year. Something tells me he didn't get along with Oz. I think Alex Rios does care, a lot. When he's going bad, he sulks. Last year, everything was bad for him. He did a good job making contact, but not a lot went his way.

QUOTE (Real @ Aug 4, 2012 -> 03:32 AM) something happened to Beckham from the year he was called up (after his 0-for streak, when he was actually successful for a while) to the last 2 years + now that completely destroyed his ability to hit MLB pitching mechanics, lack of concentration, lack of confidence, i really don't give a f*** because all that matters is he can't hit at the major league level anymore and honestly I'm tired of our radio and TV guys making so many excuses for him, like he deserves it. he doesn't deserve anybodies excuses, because I don't hear him making any for himself Really, it's pitcher's figuring out what they need to do to get him out. Beckham's just not a good hitter. He has the tools to be, but he isn't. Wasn't there talk of him resisting coaching and using his Dad as an adviser?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 3, 2012 -> 05:05 PM) He's back. Now we have to bring back the other half of "the catch." You mean the guy who hit the ball?

I like Manto's approach. The best thing a hitting coach can do is observe, give pointers and get the hell out of the way. Rios is a good example. Last year he was making contact on everything, but couldn't drive the ball because he was too low. Manto showed him and got the hell out of the way. Now, Rios has really become an exceptional hitter. He goes with the pitch and drives the ball to all fields with authority. I've always been a big Rios fan. His growth is icing on the cake to a fantastic season, thus far.

Reed's fine at 94, but he needs to regain the tilt on his slider. I'd look into extending Liriano at 3/21 with a club option right now.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 31, 2012 -> 01:35 PM) No, it isnt. So stop insulting people. I understand. I just wouldn't think you guys would want the site to resemble sports talk radio or a post game call in show. I'll stop.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2012 -> 12:48 PM) You might want to revisit this thread. http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...t=0&start=0 So it's okay for a poster to go off on some conspiracy laden tangent as if the Sox are so inept that they're not trying to protect their most valuable asset, but it's not okay to tell a crybaby to quit crying?

It's easy to figure out. What does Fangraphs say Danks' velocity was when he signed last year? Was it trending down? Is everyones hero Rick Hahn too big of an idiot to notice before he signed Danks?

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jul 31, 2012 -> 10:46 AM) "May need surgery". He has a freaking tear in the scapular of his throwing shoulder. Thats why his velocity was down and he was so bad and hittable before landing on the DL. Of course he is going to need surgery. It boggles my mind the sox had some sort of ray of hope he was going to magically recover and pitch at full form (with a torn scapula) by just shutting him down for 8 weeks. Do they have some magic pixy dust to heal muscle tears without surgery, do they have the magic soccer cold spray? I cant name a single pitcher that has ever had a scapular tear in his throwing shoulder and not had surgery. The drama queen nature of sports fans is hilarious. I swear some you guys like the gossip more than the sport. They have TMZ for that. Crybabies.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 31, 2012 -> 11:19 AM) Wasn't the original report that he had a slight tear? I swear that was what was reported maybe 6 weeks ago. However, I thought they said typically you don't have surgery for such injuries. Now maybe it is worse then they reported? You almost hope it's a tear. The situation right now is worse, they don't know what's wrong.

QUOTE (Brian26 @ Jul 31, 2012 -> 08:35 AM) Well, again, his entire premise and the examples he's laying out is that Kenny always "buys low". That may be the case with Youk, Quintana and possibly Liriano. But the author uses Peavy and Rios as examples too. That's just plain wrong. Taking on $60 million worth of salary reamining on Rios' contract and $50+ million on Peavy's contract is hardly buying low when you consider that $110 million could have been used in other places. Just because Kenny didn't give up players when he took those guys on, doesn't mean he bought low. He essentially gave up acquiring future players with those two acquisitions. My experience is that the guys that write at FanGraphs are out of work college kids. When you acquire a former CY winner and an All Star by simply picking up their salary, it's the definition of buying low.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jul 30, 2012 -> 04:44 PM) Dunn I wouldn't consider that buying high. He was paid half as much as a Werth or Reyes.

I've always like KW because he works well under the restrictions he's given. He hasn't had any draft budget and poor draft position, yet the Sox have produced a good number of MLB players, though no real stars. Even when he has been given money in FA, the Sox aren't considered an appealing destination for star players. So, he buys low on high upside guys. He, along with Coop, have a great philosophy and knack for identifying pitching. KW's not the best GM, but he's damn good at understanding his limitations and working around them. Also, he's not a p****. I like that.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jul 30, 2012 -> 10:41 AM) What are the goals of an organization? To win championships and make money. Yankees. This whole time I thought it was to win merit awards for overcoming low budgets.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 27, 2012 -> 05:23 PM) I know Hudson has a horrible batting average, but I think we could get by with him at second the rest of the year. Could he suck it up and hit .240 like Gordon? If we could get a good pitcher in a deal for Gordon and two bad prospects, I'd be all for letting Hudson play second. Or Lilly. Wait ... Lilly is gawn. Who is this magical team that will give us value for Beckham? He's almost into arbitration and still sucks. If he was rushed, he's had years, literally, to adjust. Gordon Beckham kinda sucks, it's not a secret.

I was really impressed with Sale last night. He kept us in the game against a great offense without much of anything.