TaylorStSox

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 07:23 PM) Brewer: 5 star prospect Horford: 4 star Richard: 4 star Noah: 4 star Hodge: 4 star Blue Chipper and 4 other really great players around him. Care to retract? Retract what? So they had 1 blue chipper and some 4 stars. Minus 1 player, that doesn't look much different than the Illini's roster right now, in a down year.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 05:13 PM) You seem real intelligent with your knowledge of sports...haha. Yes, insult me. The facts speak for themselves. Weber wins basketball games. Recruiting may win some internet kudos for fans that act like it's an Xbox game, but there's more to winning than having the best talent i.e. Kansas. I'll take the McCamey's of the world over the Collins any day. Maybe you'd rather masturbate over your burger boys while being embarrassed in the first round. That's your problem.

Illinois basketball will survive without Eric Gordon. The 05 team had 0 five star recruits. I believe in Coach Weber's ability to win games. Recruiting doesn't win games. How many blue chippers were on LSU and Florida? Thomas was a 3 star for christ sakes. The internet has overblown recruiting in the worst way. Take KU, for example. That team's loaded with talent but, they're absolutely garbage. They're so bad, it's frustrating to watch.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Oct 1, 2006 -> 08:42 PM) BS, AJ's greatest strength was hitting for a high average and spraying the ball all over the place. Now all he does is pull and lift like he's trying to golf the ball. IMO, this directly coincides with Thome's power decline. When Thome was the dominant LH power presence in the line up, AJ wasn't trying to pull everything. Do you think Walker told him to pull everything? Ultimately players are responsible for their own performance. Anyway, generally, the only problem I had with our offense was a lack of speed. I don't have a problem with the hitter's approach.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Oct 1, 2006 -> 08:27 PM) Im not blaming greg walker.... you want a slap hitting team than sign slap hitters.... Well said. A hitting coach can only maximize a hitter's strengths. We have a bunch of pull hitters. I don't want a hitting coach that's trying to change everyone's approach to fit their idea of what a good hitter should be.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Oct 1, 2006 -> 05:47 PM) Your post is one giant cliche. Really, I agree he'll ultimately be our starting shortstop next season unless a legitimate backup is found. It's impossible to guess what Williams is looking at, but browsing across the list of available SS FA's there's none I'd consider breaking bank and replacing Uribe for. Sure, the idea of an "impact player" has been cliched. That doesn't mean it doesn't have merit. Sabr nerds don't understand that intangibles are important. They look at Uribe's OPS and say he's a s***ty player. I look at the package and it proves that he's a ball player. Then again, the Sabr nerds haven't won s***, except that one team that with the $130 Mil payroll in 04.

One thing that people forget about Uribe is that he's an impact player. He's got huge balls. He plays hard and he's not scared of s***. He's always on the attack. He'll lollygag the occasional ball, but EVERY SS in the league does. He can be painful at the plate, but he's also talented enough to carry a team for a week at a time. In the past, he's always been good at getting strong AB's in clutch situations (3rd/less than 2 outs). IMO, he's a keeper. If we can get some speed at SS or deal for a super prospect that's hiding behind a good big leaguer, then do it. If not, he's our SS.

Of course I'd do it. I don't think the DRays are that stupid though. Some of the prospect obsessed posters really overvalue BMac.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 16, 2006 -> 07:19 PM) You know, I'm really not sure about that. McCarthy's best fastball is about as good as Vazquez's current best fastball. It doesn't move as much as Vazquez, but they're in the same velocity range. McCarthy's curve ball is much sharper than Vaz's currently is. And if it's on, McCarthy's changeup can be absolutely unhittable. Vazquez has the advantage in how his fastball moves/sinks/cuts compared to how straight BMac's is, but McCarthy's other pitches are better than the ones Vaz thows up there IMO. If BMac can throw up slightly better control, and get a working sinkerball (Which his frame is perfect for), then I think BMac will have him beat by quite a bit. First, Vazquez' 4 seamer has a ton more movement. BMac's fastball is as straight as an arrow. Secondly, not only does Vaz have more bite on his curveball, he changes speed with it as well. Next, BMac's change is completely reliant on his motion. The pitch has no real action. Lastly, Vaz also throws a good slider, 2 seamer and splitter. BMac has decent stuff, but Vazquez pure stuff is on a whole different level.

I'm still not convinced McCarthy will be any better than an average 5th starter next year. We have to find some speed somewhere. The only 2 viable positions are LF and SS. I wouldn't mind seeing Pierre in left. He does get on base, steal bases and cover alot of ground. He's better than Pods. If we fill SS with a speed guy and start Sweeney in left, we might have a shortage of guys who can drive the ball.

Anderson's an outstanding athlete that plays baseball. Sweeney's an outstanding baseball player who's a good athlete. It's blatantly obvious by their swings. Though, Anderson's one of the most natural CF I've ever seen.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 09:16 PM) Because if there was something, the media would have told us about it. There is always a leak, and the media finds out about this stuff. Like someone on the bears leaked info to the media about how Cedric Benson left early at the preseason game and didn't show up for the mandatory meeting or something, so he was fined or something like that. Do you read People and watch Entertainment Weekly?

How in the hell do you know what goes on behind closed doors? How do you know they haven't called a meeting? How do you know PK's not throwing chairs in the locker room?

They haven't quit. All this talk about heart and intensity is just bulls***. This isn't football. They just aren't a very good baseball team.

QUOTE(beautox @ Sep 3, 2006 -> 04:28 PM) I'd take an average defender that more than makes up for it with his bat, has a great aproach at the plate, and wants to be on a contender, and a underachieving kid *who KW tried to aquire this past trade deadline, because Coop has identified something that Mazone hasnt* ala Matt Thornton, than a slick fielding short stop that was tought he has to hit off the island but can't hit for long periods of time. I'm not saying Uribe's the answer, but with our pitching staff, I'd rather have a slick fielding/speedy SS than Tejada. SS is definitely a position that needs to be upgraded, but Tejada just adds to our problems. Our offense isn't the problem. It's the f***in pitching!!! Cooper can't work magic with everyone. Cabrera = Vazquez without the early success in Montreal. IMO, a move like that take 2 steps backward to make 1 forward.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 3, 2006 -> 04:23 PM) I'm sure Ozzie had NOTHING to do with Vazquez getting added only days after the two golfed together. Tejada is on another planet compared to Uribe. Defensively? LOL.

QUOTE(beautox @ Sep 3, 2006 -> 04:18 PM) thats what im saying, deal Jose + Uribe + Cotts + Gload, to Baltimore, now some here are going to say "beautox your crazy", but the truth is Baltimore doesn't have an "ace" or anyone who can remotely dominate, Chris Benson i think not, they need a 1B, and i come from the school of thought that Gload can put up Mark Grace like numbers 300+ avg 15-20 HRs, Uribe for because they're going to need a SS, and Cotts because of his age, past sucsess, salary, and the fact he is left handed, remember we got David Riske for MILB free agentl Javy Lopez, that speaks highly of how much LOOGYS are in demand, and we also go Rob Mackowiak for Damaso Marte. we get Tejada and Daniel Cabera Awesome! We could really use another average defender and underachieving kid with dominant stuff.

QUOTE(shoota @ Sep 3, 2006 -> 03:56 PM) Putting Marte on the playoff roster instead of McCarthy was moronic. Ozzie's use of Marte last year was horrendous. He regularly used Marte before Cotts, even though Cotts was one of the best lefty relievers in the game last year. Maybe Cotts numbers were better because he was put in better situations.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Sep 3, 2006 -> 03:55 PM) I kinda hope we don't make the playoffs for a couple of reasons. This team doesn't deserve to make it to the playoffs. And if we do make the playoffs, it will give this organization an excuse not to make any major changes. I never thought I'd say it, but I wouldn't mind not having Thome on the team next year, and having more of a speed and contact oriented team. But that's not gonna happen.

QUOTE(Chisox_fan @ Sep 3, 2006 -> 03:47 PM) It's riduculous how much praise Bmac gets when he puts 3 spot on the board. I like the guy as much as everyone else but he should be able to hold it. Thank you. But, hey, it's a prospect's board. Every good prospect is better than the major leaguer ahead of him. Bringing in Garica to start the inning...s***ty Bringing in Cotts...s***ty McCarthy's performance...s***ty At least they're consistant.

Thome's horrible. He sucks. I want Frank back. I want Gload in there.

QUOTE(shoota @ Sep 3, 2006 -> 03:16 PM) Some believe McCarthy would have pitched better than at least one of the starters. So that's one adjustment Ozzie could have made that would have improved this year's pitching. I understand your point that there's nothing Ozzie could do to improve the performances of his starters, but he could have made adjustments to other facets of the team that would have lead to more victories: starting BA in center more often, Mack in LF, and his poor use of the bullpen and Cotts, Riske and Politte. You can't run Jenks and Thorton out there every day. He had to use Cotts, Riske and Politte. There's really no proof that McCarthy would have been any better than anyone else. It isn't like he's Liriano. I'm a big fan of McCarthy, but he's still an unproven commodity, as a starter. It's not exactly like he played his way into the rotation during the first half. It's not like his stuff is so great that it's a no brainer. Ozzie pitched the guys that have been available to him and they've failed.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 3, 2006 -> 03:09 PM) My grandma could have managed last year's team to a good record. Last year, he was more concerned with putting the best defense on the field. This year, it's opposite. Last year, he managed according to his gut. This year, he's all about match-ups. He's always been all about match ups. Come on. It's simple. The pitcher's aren't making big pitches in key situations. The only thing that's really Ozzie's fault is playing Mac. Everything else is the fault of the guys on the field. They suck right now.

Ozzie managed the same way last year. This year the pitching, for the most part, sucks. All of the adjustments in the world aren't going to change that.

Jesus christ. This thread's like the twighlight zone. First somebody says that Uribe's not that good defensively. Then, people actually believe Ozzie's going to be fired.