Balta1701

QUOTE(The Critic @ Dec 13, 2007 -> 07:39 AM) I dunno, I think Red Sox fans have gone from being Cub fans to being Yankee fans. Couldn't resist.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ Dec 13, 2007 -> 09:08 AM) pujols...never crossed my mind I'd like to say, if he's on there, I'm incredibly disappointed. But somehow, his seeming dropoff in numbers last year makes a little more sense.

"Brian Roberts" NOW SHUT UP ABOUT HIM!!! If these lists are right, then I find it fairly comforting that Everett seems to be the only guy from the 05 team making an appearance on them. And compared to the Red Sox & Cardinals, who are havinjg guys like Varitek, Trot Nixon, and Pujols making appearances, I think we come off looking pretty good.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Dec 13, 2007 -> 08:46 AM) IF Pujols is on that list, I wonder what the connection is. He hasn't been linked to BALCO, and I'm not sure how the Mets or Yanks source would be involved with him. Maybe the Florida clinic, but I'd be surprised that his name wouldn't have leaked out earlier. Or maybe another connection, although those are the only ones that I'd read about. That guy from the Mets supposedly took over as a big distributor for a lot of teams after the Feds killed off Balco. Just because he didn't directly work with the Cardinals doesn't mean he wouldn't have had connections there.

"Kenny, Diamonds or Pearls?" (This question placed by CNN)

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 07:49 PM) I can't see him reading all 80 names. I think those will be released separately. I just can't imagine Mitchell uses any specific player names during the actual press conference. In addition, I imagine any questions about the players will generally lead to responses like "its in the report". The Selig press conference hours later is the one I look forward to.... If It's a press conference, the first question will involve the name "Bonds".

Someone might have posted this before but it's new to me. NBC will be, on Feb. 17th, premiering a revamped version of "Knight Rider". David Hasselhoff will be making a cameo.

Ugh, stay the hell away from Crisp, please.

Prior officially dumped by Cubs.

Houston is currently 3/18 from the Free Throw line against Detroit. Who here feels they could beat Houston's entire team at a game of Horse by going to the FT line?

Agustin Montero

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:54 PM) Really wasn't a smart move to deal Matt Schaub either was it. Hindsight is always 20/20. If Mr. Vick hadn't suddenly become a federal prisoner, that deal would still look pretty good, because even though Schaub has played well, the Falcons still got a ton in terms of Picks for him.

The amount of money being thrown at these Japanese players in the last 2 years, considering their performance, is absolutely extraordinary.

That's not a bad thing. Did they offer Crede Arbitration?

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 02:43 PM) I thought Quentin had pretty even splits against RHP and LHP off the top of my head. I could be wrong though. Over his 2 years in the big leagues: Vs. LHP: .171 .276 .352 .628 Vs. RHP: .252 .331 .452 .783 Just as with Brian Anderson, he hits righties better than he hits lefties right now. So, as he is a right handed batter, therefore he must only face lefties. Because CARLOS QUENTIN CAN NOT HIT RIGHT HANDED PITCHING!!!!

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 02:10 PM) Ramirez is supposed to be nowhere near ready to play in the majors. Considering he can also play SS, and we just happen to be 1 year away from needing one of those also, that would continue to make that an excellent signing. If Ramirez could play both Cf and SS, then we'd have at least 1 of those holes filled and that would dramatically expand our options in 09.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 02:00 PM) BTW, would this be a good time again to say that the Chris Young trade severely damaged this franchise? Until Jerry Owens, Brian Anderson, or Ryan Sweeney step up, yes.

QUOTE(DonnyDevito @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:35 PM) I just thought the White Sox would do something proactive, instead of sitting on their backsides making small moves, after the White Sox faithful filled the stands. but after ticket price increases, basically increases the price of everything in the ball park and outside of it, things are starting to look more and more like Reinsdorf is taking us for a ride. Why pay $7 for one beer to watch a team finish in 4th or 5th place in their division? If you don't think the product on the field is worth the price you're paying, then don't go. No one makes you go. No one made me buy the DirecTV MLB package in 05-06, I just got rewarded for doing so, and no one made me cancel that package before the 07 season.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:27 PM) The White Sox won the world series in part because of FA acquisitions Tadahito Iguchi & AJ Pyrzinski (though not quite the magnitude of the money you are talking about) Red Sox won the world series because they made major splashses (both in FA and the Trade Market). You can say JD Drew/Lugo were busts, but they also gave Daiske tons of money as well and I don't think they win without those guys (maybe without Lugo but Drew ended up helping them in the playoffs and Daiske was quite solid in the regular season helping them get home field advantage throughout). The Red Sox also got Lowell because they were willing to take on his contract (in order to get Beckett of course). The White Sox probably couldn't have made that move. St. Louis is a bad example because they really haven't been too big on the FA market the past couple years, primarily because they've resigned most of their guys. However, they haven't exactly developed most of their starters (and the Eckstein signing helped them win the World Series). Bottom line I think every good team has at least a few key pieces that were picked up in FA. I'm not saying you bring you hole club from FA, but you probably need to use it to fill some holes. But, here's the one part of that point. Teams like the White Sox, the Cardinals, and even the Red Sox are winning series now not because they try to fix all their holes through FA, but because they've made a number of smart moves that sneak around guys like Rowand who go for top dollar off of a career year. The Red Sox have picked up guys like Ortiz, Lowell, and Beckett and signed them to affordable deals well before they hit FA, and they've plugged in a few intelligently developed pieces like the rookies we saw this year. The Cards struck gold with some pitchers no one would come close to. The White Sox got a bunch of guys in at well below market price due to injuries, attitude, or Kaz Matsui. If the White Sox signed rowand, it might have increased our chances of making the playoffs this year by 1-2%. Even with Rowand, we'd still need an awful lot of other stuff to go right. That's, quite simply, why I really dislike the idea of trying to fix last year's debacle through FA. Play the kids, and at least see if you get lucky. If you do, then at worst you've got cheap talent or trade bait, and if you don't, then you see which holes you still need to fill.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:17 PM) Given today's market that is a cheap contract, imo. Can you name a team that has won the World Series recently based mostly on guys it picked up in FA at nearly full price?

QUOTE(DonnyDevito @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:05 PM) Are you thankful because you prefer to see Owens everyday in CF? Compared to giving Rowand 5/$60 or whatever he got, yes, I'd much rather have Owens in CF. And unless you think that this team was 1 piece away from the playoffs next year, and you're willing to gamble on paying a guy $13 mil a year and wind up having him put up his classic .270 BA and .750 OPS for those numbers like he has done in most of his non-contract seasons, so should you.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:57 PM) This is Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney's big chance. It could also very well mean that we see Ryan Fields in LF in spring training and Joe Crede back with the Sox in 2008. Who is Ryan Fields and what happened to Jerry Quentin and Jermaine Owens Dye? Anyway, thank you Brian Sabean!!!!

Thank you Brian Sabean!

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 11:14 AM) OBP is far more important than speed and Owens doesn't have the former. Owens put up a .340 OBP in his 2nd callup last season, and his walk rate improved markedly after his first month. If he could hit .280 or so, a .350+ OBP is within reach. He isn't Jim Thome when it comes to taking walks, but the numbers don't like; he is roughly as patient out of the leadoff spot as quite a few major league speed type leadoff hitters, including guys like Lofton, Podsednik, etc.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 10:31 AM) Barring a few major trades, is it even worth signing Rowand? Sure, you can trade for BRob, sign Rowand, perhaps make a run at a starting pitcher- a combination of moves such as those could make you competitve. But signing Rowand and making a few minor changes doesn't seem to accomplish anything other than spending another $13 million annually on a 3rd or 4th place team. I certainly hope Kenny is pondering this. Sure would be crazy if suddenly he had a firesale and acquired a ton of young players... No. I still contend that Aaron Rowand will not be worth $13 million a year to any team that signs him. I think he had a career year last year in a contract year, and I don't think that if Uribe put up a .900 OPS this year, he'd be worth $13 mil a year either.