rowand's rowdies

CF Eaton RF A Garcia DH Dunn/Konerko 1B Abreu LF Viciedo SS Ramirez 3B Davidson 2B Beckham C Phegley That lineup sucks, buts that the best I can do w what we've got. That's a bottom 5 offense unless 6+ guys exceed expectations by a lot. We need to address offense, as we don't have anything too exciting coming up the pipeline either.

Hell ya Big Ed now that is a best month ever. Nicely done. Others take note.

No offense Big Ed, but if 2 big holes in the ground and 30 meaningless baseball games made up your best month ever, you need a new best month ever. Fun and beautiful, yes, but personally I can only take so much preseason baseball. I suggest highly to anyone coming down for Spring Training, unless you are here less than 5 days, try to hit a game every other day or so. My work schedule allows me to go to around 10-15 games in March, and I go to 5-8 every year, mostly involving our White Sox. That's plenty of preseason action for even the biggest diehard fan. There are countless things to do and the weather will be beautiful 25-31 days in March, so make sure to diversify your trip. I've had multiple times in my 5 spring trainings out here where the White Sox put up 0 runs in consecutive games. One time I saw 3 games in a row without a run, then 10 in one inning the next game. Sitting in the beautiful weather in March watching baseball is special, but the novelty runs out quick when you see a bunch of 0s being put up by our "stellar" prospects on offense. Also, the DBacks and Dodgers will be going to Australia for some real games around march 23-26, so don't count on seeing them starting around march 20th.

I'm in Tempe Wanne not Glendale. You've got almost an hour on me heading west. If you do take his advice, make sure to go to Coronado Island and the Hotel Del Coranado Beaches. His La Jolla advice is also spot on. DO NOT GO TO LUCHA LIBRE'S Burritos (on d/d/d on food tv). Horrible. DO NOT Stay in National City (city south of San Diego). The SD Zoo is pretty cool. So is the ghost tour in old town San Diego. The Gaslamp district is blocks and blocks of awesome bars that are unique and cool places to drink. But Coronado Hotel Del Beaches are the #1 SD Spot.

I'll second what WANNE said, although I'm not a huge San Diego fan. It's 6 hours if you take the route that doesn't include 3 police check points and about 5.5 hours if you take the shady way. You can make it to the southern LA beaches in 5 hours or so, so yes the coast is almost as close driving time wise as the grand canyon.

103MPH Screwball - I covered a few in my other post, but I'll post this again in case any of you other poor souls have to entertain non baseball fans in AZ while here: - World Wildlife Zoo - Litchfield Park (10 miles NW of Camelback Ranch) - Phx Zoo - Phoenix (25 miles E of Camelback Ranch, 5 mins from PHX Sky Harbor Airport) - Sedona - Hiking and Amazing Scenery, Great Day Trip from PHX area. 2.5 hours from Camelback Ranch, about 2 from PHX SkyHarbor - Pools - These are everywhere, at every resort, at every hotel. Always a go to. - Lake Havasu - 3 hours NW of Camelback Ranch, Original London Bridge is there plus lots of water activities. - Canyon/Saguaro Lake - 1.5-2 hours E of Camelback Ranch. Beautiful lakes in the mountains. - Butterfly Museum - Scottsdale - 1 hour E of Camelback Ranch - New - Westgate Mall - Shopping, movie theatre, hockey, food. 15 mins from Camelback Ranch. - Ditka's Restaurant - NEW - Not sure which casino, but one that isn't too far from Camelback Ranch. - Paintball - Combat Paintball in Tempe, 45 mins E of Camelback Ranch. - Laser Tag - World's largest laser tag place is in Mesa, 1 Hour # of Camelback Ranch - Castles and Coasters - AZ's 6 Flags. N Phx, 45 mins from Camelback Ranch. - Go Kart Racing - Phx - 30 mins from Camelback Ranch. Not sure of name of place but popular. I don't have kids, so I had to think hard about what they might want to do. Anything past what I suggested above, youre the parent, you do the research.

Brian Anderson (yes the old 1st rd pick OF) is trying to get back in baseball, I saw it on mlbtraderumors a few days ago. I thought he would be pretty good. We, the Rowand's Rowdies, did correctly predict that the 1st year of the Rowand's Rowdies would produce a World Series, which it did. However when we became Swisher supporters, although he was a cool guy that responded to emails, we were wrong...

From a 6 year Tempe resident who hails from the south suburbs...spring training, especially when you come straight in from the polar hell you all still call home, is a magical feeling. It feels like you've traveled time to early summer. The White Sox/Dodgers field is one of the outliers, in west Glendale, about 15 miles west of downtown Phoenix, which is by no means the center focus of this area. The Mariners/Padres field is pretty nice up in Peoria, it's one of the closest to the White Sox park. The Angels park is great for seeing games up close, but is usually sold out on weekend/big games. Scalping is legal here, so you can always get tickets. The Cubs new park is going to be the highlight of spring training going forward. It's one mile west of a big outdoor mall (Mesa Riverview) and one mile east of Tempe Marketplace. It's only 3 miles from Mill Ave ASU's party street and less than 2 miles from campus. Buy tickets beforehand, more than you need, and get ready to make $ scalping tickets. The A's park is 3 minutes from the PHX airport and allows you close seating (although no grass seating) and is usually empty. The Dbacks/Rockies park in Scottsdale is probably the nicest facility. The Talking Stick Resort across the highway has 2 amazing restaurants (Ocean Trail and Orange Sky). The Giants facility is Scottsdale's old town is nice, but crowded and often sold out. Those are the stadiums I would go to. The rest are iffy, insignificant, and/or in iffy areas. Try to see games in these parks. Baseball : Terrible. I love baseball. I do not love spring training baseball. They may as well just go out there and have batting practice and play catch. You get close to the players, I mean close, but who knows which players will even be there. Many times lineups are watered down to the point where you know only a few of the guys on your own team. It's just the fact that baseball is back and the weather is nice again. Night baseball: Starting to be more prevalent. Going to be busy, but very nice weather and no sunburn on pale skin. Camelback ranch is home to a lot of teams as far as practicing goes. make sure to go explore and watch practices before games. As far as food, they put a Portillos in Tempe Marketplace near Cubs park. There is also one on Shea near the DBacks/Rockies park. Oreganos Restautants (An AZ Chain) is great for Italian food and deep dish pizza (close to chi style). We have potbellys and jimmy johns now, too. Stay away from Jack in the Box, El Pollo Loco, In and Out Burger, and Del Taco unless you have easy and immediate bathroom access. If you want amazing views with half the drive, go to Sedona (2-2.5 hour drive north) or make sure to see it on the way to/back from the Grand Canyon. Do NOT go to Tuscon. Do NOT go to Mexico. If the weather is nice, check out Payson (1.5 hours northeast of Phx) or Flagstaff (3 hours north of phx). If you have kids who can handle a 3.5 hour drive and you don't want them jumping off the grand canyon, go to Bearizona (Williams AZ half hour west of Flagstaff). Look it up. If you want some lake time, Lake Havasu is 3.5 hours north west. Palm Springs Cali is 3.5 hours west. Las Vegas is 4.5 hours northwest, the Hoover dam is 3.5 hours northwest on the way to Las Vegas. If you are in a sketchy looking area and see a Vienna Beef sign on a restaurant, that does not mean it is safe to eat there, or even stop your car there. Shortcuts through downtown/south/west/east Phx are not a good idea unless you know what you are doing. If you have kids and are staying near Camelback ranch, the World Wildlife Zoo in Litchfield Park (20 mins west of Camelback Ranch is a great zoo and aquarium. Whole day can be spent there and the restaurant there Dillon's has $2 onion rings. Westgate Mall in Glendale is pretty fun and nice. Stay away from Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe. Ahwatukee might not be close to too many parks, but it is a very nice safe area. Oh, and most importantly : Avoid Dodger fans, they are drunk, drugged out, gang/cartel members who will cause you problems if you give them attention.

Maybe there's a way to creatively trade Kepp back to his old team the Rays where he flourished... Kepp (and $4.25 million, half his salary, flexible utility player who has thrived in Tampa) Viciedo (New DH Platoon w Joyce, occasional LF appearance) De Aza (New CF) Linstrom (New 8th inning/potential closer) Quintana (New SP, LH, less pressure as a #4/5 guy) Trace Thompson (Top 10 Prospect) Scott Snodgrass (Top 10 Prospect) To Tampa for David Price (We sign him to a big extension) Desmond Jennings (Move him to LF, Jennings/Eaton/Garcia OF) A lot of players involved and I don't think Tampa would part w Price and Jennings for this, but I'd love to have Price and Jennings on the South Side. Thoughts? Could we put a package together for Price? Would he do well in the cell? My gut tells me no, but man can he pitch when he's healthy and rested. #Karkovice2015

Robin Ventura seems like a nice enough guy. I'm not sold he's the long term manager of a successful White Sox team once this reload is completed. So let's assume he heads back to the beautiful Central Cali coast town of Paso Robles after his contract runs out, who is your pick for next manager? My pick is Ron Karkovice, the brains of our late 80s/early 90s teams. We all know former catchers make the best managers. Here are some of the top managers in baseball who were catchers (there are a few more, too): - Mike Scioscia - Joe Madden - Mike Matheny - Bob Melvin - Bruce Bochy - Joe Girardi Ron Karkovice, longtime Chicago White Sox catcher and hero, has been managing the Camden Riversharks (Independent League), with a old favorite of ours as his bench coach, CHRIS WIDGER! He has had a rough time record wise over 2 seasons, going 116-143, but who the hell knows what the roster/league situation is? That has to keep Ron on his toes, not knowing which terrible ball player clinging onto a glimmer of false hope, will come through in tough situations. Ron Karkovice is a legend to us all and would be a great candidate to be a long term manager of the Chicago White Sox. If Chris Widger is in as his bench coach, forget about it. #Karkovice2015

These are not the 1st reports of this. I mentioned it on the day it happened that AZ was not high on Eaton anymore as they saw him as "an arrogant selfish me type player". This was reported by AM 620's John Gambadoro, a respected sports news source and someone I know personally. He has a great idea of the pulse of the DBacks and when he reported the trade, basically made it seem like Eaton was a throw in (Skaggs was the big piece in the deal) and that the DBacks were done with him, because of his attitude, much like Trevor Bauer. The Dbacks are being run into the ground by one of the worst GMs in sports, Kevin Towers. They also got demolished by the Dodgers and were weak minded and basically the definition of pushovers. So if someone didn't fit into the "DBacks mold", I'm OK with that. I don't really get the selfish label. He went deep into counts in the leadoff spot. He plays CF. If he was a free swinging middle of the lineup hitter, say like an Adam Dunn, then I could see him being called selfish for trying to just hit HRs for himself. But in the leadoff spot, and in CF, I don't see a problem with him being a "me" player. I wouldn't be worried about this, if there is a sport that is more about the individual than any other of the big 4 sports, it is baseball anyway. I still like the move.

Anyone know of a good website to watch the Bears/packers game? Im in AZ so we have the Cardinals/49ers game on Fox.

I want a catcher for the future, not just for this year. I think Lucroy is the best fit. Great contract, great power and avg, good for the next 3-5 years. What if we give them: Dunn (pay half his salary so $7 million sent) Carlos Sanchez 3B Prospect (Depth now with Davidson) Trayce Thompson OF Prospect (Depth now with Eaton) Tyler Flowers (replacement catcher) Jeff Keppinger (pay half his salary for next 2 years so $4 million sent) All for Lucroy. We eat some money but save some money, have a top 8 player at an important position, and clear some at bats for young developing players in the big leagues as well as upper minors. Could Milwaukee say no to this deal? They have nothing going on and this gives them a lot for now and later, as well as some trade chips in Dunn and Keppinger who could get them more prospects. They need a total rebuild there in Brewtown.

Keep Viciedo AND De Aza, Adam Eaton is a balls to the wall player, and pays for it. He was out for a good chunk of last year. We will need De Aza, he's got a reasonable contract, and it a top 10 4th OF who can play any OF position. No need to trade low. What if Hahn can somehow trade Dunn and the DH spot all of a sudden has an opening (platoon w Konerko, yes I know RH/RH) and we can play De Aza in the OF and let him bat 9th as the 2nd leadoff man. Viciendo has shown streaks where he hits 4-6 HRs in as many games, is 24, and has his Cuban power bash hermano coming over. Let's let it ride on Red (Cuba). We can always trade them midseason for more anyway.

With the way Rick Hahn has been making trades, I've been able to take a look at all possible available catchers in baseball and say to myself, wow, I think Rick could make it happen. Nice to feel this way. Anyway, who's your 1 target and what are you going to give up to get him? Mine's Jonathan Lucroy, MIL C Signed through 2016, Club Option for 2017, $5 million/season at its most expensive. Big power, not over the hill. Don't know much about his defense or pitch calling honestly. Trade Bait: Dunn (Power 1B for one season, reasonable $, Sox could cover some) John Danks Beckham Alexi Quintana C Hawkins Mitchell Rienzo Not sure what it might take, but it will take a lot, but I would pay a lot for Lucroy. Thoughts?

Why couldn't of Hahn thrown in Dunn and John Danks, with $0, on either of these DBacks trades? Towers probably would have bit! Man is he bad... I liked Reed, but this seems like a no-brainer, even if Davidson ends up just being a top 20 3B.

Word in Arizona is that the PTBNL is Brandon Jacobs our prospect OF and that Eaton was a me type selfish player who was not liked in the clubhouse or by management. I liken him to an young Darin Erstad, but with a little more pop. Not sure how I feel about this one, but we got a young hitter for a young pitcher.

When I 1st saw it I thought this said White Sox apparently sign Johannas Chimpo...

The way this Cuban reporter pronounces it http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/...e-abreu-reports what about Jose Bre It rhymes and seems like the correct pronunciation of his last name has the BRE part highlighted. Rowand's Rowdies Ron Karkovice Invitational Fantasy Football League

Can someone give a good recap of our salary for 2014, our roster locks and possibilities, and 2014 draft prospects since we will have a top 3 pick in next years draft? Also some free agents we could target?

Ryan sweeney is a lh free agent....

If you watched that DBacks team this past season you would know how silly everything you just said sounds and realize I am right. I know the numbers sound crazy, but ask anyone who watched the Dbacks last year and they will tell you hitting .050 higher with an extra 10 hrs and 30 rbis was definitely possible. He was hitting .298 July 26th before the slide started. 90 games in. He had only 18 RBIs after July 25th, with 72 RBIs in the first 90 games. He had only 8 HRs after July 26th, with 22 HRs in the first 90 games. 90 games is a pretty good sample size, so he was on pace to hit around .300 sustaining the first 90 games. On pace to hit 128 RBIs sustaining that pace for 160 games. On pace to hit 39 HRs sustaining that pace for 160 games. With better protection that a slumping sophomore strike out king in Goldy, a streaky catcher for 10 games or whatever, and a super streaky hill for up to 10 games, or just keeping the pace he was at, he hits .300/39/128...

Yes, Kubel was hitting .300 over halfway through the year before a bad last few months. if he had protection from the get go he would have hit higher than .300 the first part and not had as bad if any falling off the second half if the team was in contention, too. If you don't think there's any chance Tank, Dunn, Rios, or Konerko get hurt or slump badly then yes, Kubel does not fill a hole. And you are the guy who plays video games with injuries off and baseball seasons with 81 games. It's a long season to have no backup plan for those 4...Kubel gives us good depth and our lineup a big boost whenever he plays.

Those of you who think Kubel is worth nothing or not an upgrade to this lineup/team don't know anything about him, so why don't you come up with other ideas and stop talking about someone you obviously know nothing about. Kubel signed for 2 years/16 million, so hes got $8 mil this year and a reasonable team option for '14. He batted .253/30/90 in a struggling light hitting lineup in AZ. I watched plenty of Dbacks games, he was all they had. Upton was a joke, Young was hurt, and Goldy slumped most of the season. Pitchers pitched around him, but as aggressive as he is, he swung at some junk because that's all he was getting and he had to do something for that offense. He's only 30. Does everyone forget that he hit .300/28/103 in 2009 w the twins and killed us? What about his down year in 2010 when he hit .249/21/92? Or his one injury plagued season in 2011 when he only played 99 games and still hit .273/12/58? He is an underappreciated hitter. If he played for a team in contention with some protection last season he could have easily hit .300/40/120. Nick Swisher just got 4/52 with the indians. He sucks. Kubel fits well in US Cellular and on our team, assuming we don't move major pieces to get him. Here's why... Although his defense is below average, he can play the corner OF spots well enough and he can DH. We have a lefty power DH you say. Well, he can barely bat his weight in a good season and needs time off when he is struggling and at least once a week against a LHP he has no chance against. We need more LH hitting in the lineup, tank and rios struggle against RHP. There's at least a game a week each they could use off. We have an all of a sudden somewhat injury prone 1b in Paul. He goes down from time to time and needs days off. Dunn to 1b and Kubel to DH. There's at least 4 games a week we could use Kubel. An injury of Konerko, Dunn, Tank, or Rios makes him a staple every day player. We do not want to trade Alexi for him, as we can't create a hole there. But if we can get him for bullpen or prospects, he is a no-brainer to me and anyone with any baseball sense that has knowledge of the player he is/our team as it is. He makes our lineup powerful enough to contend with Detroit, even with an injury to one of our hitters.

Kubel can be a MONSTER when he's hot. So what he fell off the last few months, that team sucked and he had no protection for him in that lineup. I watched him scorch the ball game after game here in AZ. He was one of the best hitters in baseball for weeks. He can spell tank vs RH or spell Rios vs RH. He's affordable, i just don't know what we have that AZ wants, although Towers is a terrible GM... Maybe Quintana and Thornton get it done? But that weakens our pen and rotation depth for a part time hitter...albeit a power LH hitter that our lineup needs. Tough decisions.