Balta1701

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 11:21 AM) Somehow Andy Gonzalez > Heath Phillips? Heath was out of options. He was going to be gone come the end of ST anyway.

QUOTE(heirdog @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 11:18 AM) I like this deal but anyone else think it could be a prelude to a bigger deal...meaning Quentin, Fields and Danks for Cabrera or Bedard? 1. Honestly, it's probably more of a deal than what would interest the Marlins without Quentin, because Quentin is the type of high ceiling OF they'd love to get their hands on. 2. I would honestly hate making that deal. We'd be giving up guys who have a shot at hitting 65+ home runs between them next year and adding in Danks at the same time, recreating a hole in LF, hoping Crede was healthy, and then having no 3rd baseman after 1 year. With this deal, we're suddenly looking at having league minimum guys at LF, CF maybe, 2nd base, 3rd base, 2 starting pitchers, and a couple guys in the bullpen. Suddenly we're looking a lot younger than we were previously.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 11:14 AM) Here's a quote from a D'Backs fan about Quentin's struggles last season at the plate. Shield your eyes, SSI71: When he went down to the Minors though, he still put up a 1.004 OPS. He tore things up after being sent down.

QUOTE(striker62704 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 11:12 AM) I'm curious to see what we could get for Crede or if KW suprises everyone by getting rid of Fields and Crede and getting Cabrera. *Fields, Sweeney and Egbert to Florida When did KW become that good at hypnosis? Actually, you know, I might ask the same thing about how he pulled off Quentin for Carter. Let's put it this way...there is no way on God's green earth we'd get Cabrera from Florida without giving up Quentin. But Quentin might be one of the high-enough ceiling type guys that could get Florida's interest, if that was our real goal.

Owens, LH, CF Cabrera, RH, SS Thome, LH, DH Konerko, RH, 1b Dye, RH, RF Fields, RH, 3b Pierzynski, LH, C Quentin, RH, LF Richar, LH, 2b So, by my count, I see 4 Lefties in our standard lineup, sets us up pretty well that way. With Uribe and Ozuna and Bourgeois on the bench, and room for 1 more guy, that gives us the ability to work some decent platoons involving Owens and Richar if we really want. And if you're looking at a guy like Quentin at the bottom of your order, you're talking about a very very balanced attack, esp. if Richar could put up that .750 OPS he put up in September for a full year. And that lineup should get 200 home runs out of it even with Owens at the top spot.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 11:05 AM) Well, who's gone now, Crede or Fields? Maybe one will leave to get us our brand new leadoff CF? If this deal happens...we have to move Crede, no matter the return.

QUOTE(vandy125 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:17 AM) You would think so, but a imagine a lot of people like myself have not been polled. I always wonder who they are calling for these? The population of Iowa is around 3 million, so if you assume 1.5 million potential voters, and you ask how many 700 person polling pools can you come up with, that's 2143 potential polling pools without repeating anyone.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:51 AM) If this trade does mean that we'll be seeing either of Owens or Cabrera leading off for this team in 2008 then I f***ing hate it. Cabrera is an ideal #2 hitter, his talents would be wasted in the leadoff spot and I just hate the idea of some little .320-.330 OBP, .330 SLG%, speed guy taking the leadoff spot, it's just so silly IMO. It really sucks that baseball people have taken to the idea that low OBP + lots of SB = ideal leadoff man. Is it even worth noting again that Owens's OBP was actually approaching respectable for a leadoff hitter during his second callup, and his patience in the big leagues improved each month he was up?

QUOTE(max power @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:50 AM) A move for crisp could still happen too. That is true...this does set up this team exactly for a Left handed, good defense, speedy CF leading off, and Crisp does fit that profile.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:47 AM) IMO yes. He usually has an incredibly high OBP (.400+) so yeah he'd be a great fit at the top of a lineup that features quite a bit of power in the middle. It's worth noting that yes, he did get those OBP's up over .400, but he did so while being a .300+ hitter. He hit .277 in 2004 pre-injury, and put up a .370 OBP, so if his batting average does not carry over well, and sometimes they don't (exception being Ichiro) then you might not expect .400+ OBP's from him over here at least to start.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:45 AM) Fukodome to lead off and play CF perhaps? Is he that type of hitter (I must confess I have only seen a few numbers on him). And I think Owens is an almost ideal 4th OF, who also gives a nice PR option on the bench. He's solid defensively in CF and LF, except for that arm. Fukudome to me is a decent leadoff option, but he's not an Ozzie type leadoff option. The best thing he has going for him is a reputation at being patient at the plate...taking a ton of walks, getting that OBP up around .400. But he's not a speed burner, he's a 10 SB a year kinda guy. Here's his Japanese Stats from the Baseball Cube, if you wanted to see them. He's also not a natural CF, which means we'd be moving him to there from a corner OF position, which may make him not want to sign with us if he doesn't want to do that move.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:41 AM) I'm still trying to figure out who the f*** the lead-off hitter is going to be. Jerry Owens, who if this goes down we pencil in to CF. If they make another move for a CF, then I'd say it's possible that we'll see a 1-2 of Cabrera, Quentin.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:41 AM) More than anything he is viable prospect. If this is the final move, it is a bad one, if it is part an offseason plan than it is a good one. He is an MLB ready prospect which could fit our plans or is tradeable, which when packaged looks really good. I dunno, I for one really would not be a fan of acquiring him and then immediately moving him for a Cabrera...for 2 reasons. One, he has the ability to put up some excellent numbers for us at a much lower price than Cabrera...and two, and more importantly; his trade value is actually lower than it should be because of his injury last year. He could well come out next season, get hot in april, and have his value skyrocket to the level that a lot of these other young OF's are at. His value could shoot upwards from here, and he could be 2x as valuable come the deadline if we wanted to move him again.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 09:45 AM) So you're offering an open invitation for all Illini fans at Soxtalk to sleep over on their drive over? Awesome! Heck, for that game, I'm within walking distance of the stadium.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:35 AM) How does making Quentin our LF make us better ? I know he's cheap, but unless he's ROY, I don't see how this closes the gap with Cleveland and Detroit. What kind of numbers are realistic for him ? Does anyone see Jerry Owens platooning with him ? In the minors, Quentin put up these numbers over 4 seasons: .312 .427 .526 953 He put up a 1.004 OPS last year in AAA after being sent down for 1/2 of the season when he struggled upon coming back from a torn Labrum he suffered in ST. In 166 at bats with Arizona, in the big leagues, in 2006, he put up a : .253 .342 .530 872, with 9 home runs (in a full season that would drag out to around 30 homers).

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:33 AM) I don't like Owens as a 4th OF, as he is only really a passable LF. Somehow, I think this deal actually makes it more likely that Owens will wind up starting for us next year in CF, because Quentin on paper isn't an ideal leadoff guy, and there's no obvious leadoff hitter candidate out there for CF (although Quentin would be a leadoff guy in the Sizemore style at some level)...we all know we're going to wind up with a speedy guy at the top of the order, and now the only place we can find that guy is in CF, and there aren't any other speedy small guys available who could play CF other than JO.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:31 AM) He was #20 in 2006 and #22 in 2005. Talk about an inspired trade. This could go down as one of KW's best, trading a single A DH for a player with Quentin's upside is downright brilliant. And, interestingly enough...#23 in 2006 was some dude named Chris Young. Oh and #24 was our closer.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:27 AM) Would he be our new LF next season ? I don't see how this team can trade for an OF like Quentin without basically guaranteeing him a spot in April.

QUOTE(soxfaninpa @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:17 AM) After going back and looking at his numbers last year, I'm not anymore encouraged... So who goes on the 40 now, hopefully Andy Gonzalez, so at least something good comes out of it. Well, he did suffer a torn labrum in ST, so that may well have just murdered his season. He came up right away when he was healthy again, and struggled before being sent down. However, he ripped apart AAA last year, putting up a 1.004 OPS in AAA after going back down.

QUOTE(rcpweiner @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:14 AM) From BP, 2005: So, at least there WERE some high hopes for this fella. Does he get penciled into LF right away? If this deal does in fact go down as written, our OF suddenly is set as Quentin, Owens, Dye, and is actually fairly well set up for the next few years with a decent amount of depth at a low low price.

QUOTE(bmags @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 10:12 AM) i'm seeing good things on him from like...2005. He has to be like 25 years old at this point. He is in fact 25, turned 25 in August. He hasn't done a lot in the big leagues yet, but I have to admit looking at his minor league numbers, he's put up some attractive numbers. But it's hard to tell how much of that might be due to being 1 year older than a lot of people at each stop as he has been. Good, high slugging, lotta walks, OPS over 900 each year down there.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 09:49 AM) communist dictators will be communist dictators... Just to get our words straight, when's the last time you saw a dictator lose an election 51-49? He may be an aspiring dictator, but he's certainly not there yet.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 09:40 AM) What about bringing back Damaso? http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07337/838703-63.stm He'll come pretty cheap. We already have 2 lefty's in our bullpen, both of whom I'd say are roughly as reliable as Damaso Marte is right now. And Damaso didn't exactly seem to fit well inside our bullpen. Adding in Damaso does essentially nothing to make us better; if we need anything else in the bullpen (and I don't think we do) it's another righty, esp. one who can be a long man in the event of a Contreras/Danks/Floyd blowup. Damaso certainly doesn't fill that role, and its certainly not worth giving up anything talent-wise to get him.

For the last couple days or so, the hits on our good friend Senator Craig by that media that is out to get him have resumed. The paper is citing 8 people, 4 of them on record.

And congratulations are in order, as the GOP in the Senate has, in less than 12 months, managed to obliterate the former record for most filibusters ever during any 2 year congressional term, absolutely blowing through the former number, set by the Dems in the last session in the Senate.