SadChiSoxFanOptimist

Pods doesn't care what number he wears...now if who he goes home to at night should change, HE'D CARE.

I recall reading in the Tribune that Nate Silver from BProspectus predicted that Jayson Nix would win the starting job. Well, I guess that ends this thread.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 03:58 PM) What happens to Gordon Beckham? He becomes a Socialist and changes his citizenship to "go with the flow."

Why in the world would Darrin Jackson want to work next to Ed Farmer, partner-killer?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 11, 2008 -> 07:37 PM) Must be a sense of disappointment in the Cuban community about the election...for many years, the conservative/Catholic Cuban vote helped secure the state for Republicans, at least in recent elections. Now the state has become a richer mixture of Hispanic cultures, and they voted in Obama in most states by 2 to 1 margins, eschewing their church's position (I say this as a Catholic, lol) and favoring the economic over the social/moral (fwiw, peace and social justice issues are perceived as more important to Democrats, it's just that the abortion issue is always paramount...but not in this election year). Even if they started drilling all over ANWR, it would take many months if not years to see results. That's just a stopgap solution to a long-term, endemic problem that needs to be addressed going forward. I think you will see any bailouts of the auto industry with lots of "green initiatives" imposed in terms of developing alternative energy/hybrid/battery-solar powered cars again. It's not WHETHER we do something, although even President Clinton admitted that abandoning Rwandans was his biggest mistake...it's HOW we go about doing it. We can be strong/forceful without doing it in a unilateral/militaristic fashion, and we can seek international cooperation and financial assistance without having our troops under UN Command. Friedman in the NY Times had a very good article about how all the countries in the world that were "free riders" under Bush (Japan, China, Germany, France, Russia, etc.) had to make a commitment to work with the US in the future, to share some of the costs and burdens... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/...amp;oref=slogin Just interested in your take on that, Cubano. Don't want to get into a discussion better reserved for another page...but, in the new spirit of bi-partisanship, I'm hoping we can have a peaceful/thoughtful exchange of ideas, lol. You gotta love any Soxtalk post that includes the word eschew. Way to go Caulfield.

We could use some White Sox infuence in the White House. Yes, Obama for today's world. McCain for the rest of you CroMagnons.

QUOTE ( date=' 14, 2008 -> 07:49 PM) Anyone know where we rank among MLB teams in Rookie of the Year awards? OK, I'll bite on my own question. First, some history: History Of The Award In 1940, the Chicago chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) began presenting an informal award to the best rookie in the major leagues. In 1947, the BBWAA took over the award in 1947, and in 1949, they split the award, giving one to a rookie from both the National and the American Leagues. The American League Rookie of the Year Award has been spotty at picking out future stars: only 4 Hall of Famers have won this award (although Mark McGwire and Cal Ripken, Jr.. are practical shoo-ins. Also, Lou Piniella is a virtual lock for the Hall as a manager thx caknuck) There has been only one tie for the award, in 1978, between John Castino of the Twins and Alfredo Griffin of the Blue Jays. The New York Yankees have had the most American League Rookies of the Year with 7. The newly christened Tampa Bay Devil Rays are the only team yet to furnish a winner. The following Chicago White Sox players have won the AL Rookie of the Year Award since 1949: 1955 - Louis Aparicio 1962 - Gary Peters 1965 - Tommie Agee 1982 - Ron Kittle 1984 - Ozzie Guillen (BTW, I think that No Neck Williams shoulda beaten out Lou Piniella in '68.) That's not a terrible cumulative record...We were damn good in the early 60's and again in the early 80's. The Yankees had the most RoYs in this period with 7...so 5 isn't terrible. What is damning is no Sox RoY winners in the 70's, 90's or the 00's. No Sox winners in 23 years. That sucks. So now we have the Buddy Bell Sox Player Developoment era...and I'll say our chances improved with the signing of Beckham yesterday. Or, is this just the foolish conjecture of a lifetime Sox fan? History & probability suggest I'm wrong.

Scouting, selecting and drafting is only one phase of our sad history... Even if we selected and drafted the very best talent available, White Sox development staff has never been effective. Face it, if we had a decent development philosophy and organizational capability, there would have been more "wins" from the hundreds of kids we drafted. For me, this is the hardest part of being a lifelong Sox fan -- the much-heralded rookies aren't ready/don't perform and we have to win trades in order to compete. Anyone know where we rank among MLB teams in Rookie of the Year awards?

Forgive me if this has been posted, but I just read this from Keith Law at ESPN: The worst pick of the day belongs to the White Sox, who took GM Kenny Williams' son in the fifth round. Kenny Williams Jr. is a senior at Wichita State who doesn't even play every day and who was ruled academically ineligible for the 2007 season. He's a good athlete and at least a 55 runner, but he's 22 years old, played in 12 games in total prior to 2008, and wasn't on most teams' draft boards, although two or three other teams appeared to have had him inside the 10th round. It is hard to imagine that he would have been their 5th-round pick if his name was Kenny Smith, but the White Sox liked Kenny Jr.'s athleticism, something that was relatively scarce in this draft's pool of college position players. Kinda makes you proud to be a Sox Fan, huh?

He is totally responsible for the fact that we have one of MLB's worst scouting, slection & development systems. Period. Fans can't look just at the moment, it's year by year.

The last thing we need is to get an old OF'r on the way down. I'd rather watch someone with a real future grow than the inevitable decline of a veteran.

It's a crying shame that we have absolutely NO ONE in AA or AAA to fill our needs this year for SS or CF. What a franchise.

QUOTE(striker62704 @ Oct 27, 2007 -> 11:17 PM) Sign Crede, trade Kornerko to LAA or LAD, move Fields to 1B. I agree 100% Best and quickest way to improve this team by getting younger, faster and cheaper + acquiring young talent.

QUOTE(HoosierSox @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 05:16 PM) Hes waiting to take Kennys job. I hope sooner, rather than later.

In signing Ozzie to a long term contract, we stayed dumb (and dumber...) and failed to improve our leadership with this rotten move. A perfect compliment to getting older and slower, as we have with our resigning of Dye.

Hey, I've got an idea... Let's draft and develop a shortstop who can play in the majors!

I'll be there with my daughter...looking forward to it. Maybe we'll see ancient, old, decrepit Sox players -- Erstadt, perhaps?

I lead a sorry life. I watch my sorry team. I am a sorry f****r. Go Sox.

Thank God...back online. Now I can cancel my addiction counseling. Thank you very much for all the work you do to make this site work.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 10, 2007 -> 09:17 PM) So if the Sox standpat where the hell is the new leadoff hitter coming from? Another year of Podsednik I assume. No,of course not...Podsednik is so 2005. Our leadoff future is in the legs of Jerry Owens.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 08:31 PM) He started off playing RF for the Mariners when he broke into the league in 2001 because the team already had one of the best defensive CF in the game in Mike Cameron. Ichiro's defensive abilities make him capable of playing either RF or CF with above average results (his arm is possibly the strongest and most accurate in baseball.) This past offseason they signed Jose Guillen who is a very good RF so they were finally able to move Ichiro to the position he is best suited for in CF. So he can play either position very well but his speed, excellent reads and contact hitting style make him best suited for CF. Pfew...no residual flashback! THANKS KALAPSE

Somebody help me out, please. I thought Ichiro was a right fielder, but see that he's listed in CF in FoxSports... Did he formerly play right for the Mariners, or was that just another flasback from my college days. That's where I'd like to see him in a Sox uniform, with his speed and his arm.

Of course this all depends upon what kind of baseball team (other than low salaried) the Sox want to field. I'd like to see a Sox team that is younger, pitching, speed and defense-oriented with "complete" skilled players who can execute, run, and field their positions. I'm tired of station-to-station baseball with streaky, base clogging power hitters batting 220 like Konerko & Thome.

This from Olney @ESPN: Michael (Dallas): Regarding the Dodgers, do you think Kemp is enough to pry Buehrle away? Is it worth if for LA? Thanks. Buster Olney: Michael: If the White Sox get Matt Kemp for Buehrle, that's a pretty good deal for a rent-a-player (for Chicago). Talked to about 10 people in the game over the last 24 hours and not one of them -- not one -- thinks the White Sox are making the right call by refusing to give Buehrle the no-trade clause. Given what the market is for pitching, four years and $56 million is an incredible bargain, and they should just give him the no-trade clause, or come up with some way around this sticking point (like guaranteeing a $5 million bonus if he's traded, or something like that).

Did Kenny create the Sox policies prohibiting and purposely ignoring more talented, higher-upside prospects because they are represented by Scott Boras, or is he just adminstering them? And the NTC prohibitions? Don't get me wrong, I agree with most on this board that we can't sustain a winning with self-imposed, talent-limiting business policies. If this is not true and Kenny has complete freedom to make these decisions (which I think is highly unlikely) then the issue then becomes why would any self-respecting GM choose to work with these handicaps? So, project forward: If you're Rick Hahn (allegedly a very talented negotiatior and future MLB GM candidate), why stay? And further, if you are qualified GM with a World Series on your resume, why accept the limitation when you might work elsewhere?, Bottom line: This is just another Reinsorfism limiting our potential success. 2005 WAS a miracle!