RME JICO

QUOTE(SHAFTR @ Mar 21, 2006 -> 11:05 AM) I'd agree with last year's offseason ranking. Obviously in hindsight it is much higher, but his analysis is right. Low risk moves outside of the Podsednik trade. Just as important as the 05 offseason moves was the development of McCarthy, Garland, Cotts, Politte & Jenks. The Sox were ranked 14th because of the Pods trade only. Most of the critics said it was a terrible move. I also wouldn't call picking up your starting catcher, 2B, RF, 5th Starter, and Closer low risk moves. Those moves totalled around $20 million alone. AJ was a risk because he was a cancer, Dye, Hermie, and El Duque were all injury risks, and Gooch was a complete unknown. Those seem more like bold moves to me. It was not like they were shoring up their bench or middle relief. This year's rating is hilarious too. I don't know if the Sox had the best moves this offseason but they were definitely better than NYY, BOS, and OAK.

QUOTE(JoeBatterz @ Mar 21, 2006 -> 11:08 AM) Is this game on TV anywhere? It is on MLB.TV.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 21, 2006 -> 08:29 AM) Why does everyone doubt this Don Cooper's ability? He has more success stories than anyone this side of Leo Mazzoni, and yet there are still the snide remarks about him. Does anyone really believe that we win the world series with out Cooper's reclaimation projects of Jose Contreras, Neal Cotts, Bobby Jenks, and Jon Garland? Heck for good measure you could even throw in Esteban Loiaza who Coop fixed, and then we traded to get the guy who started all 3 game ones for us in the playoffs. Don Cooper deserves the benefit of the doubt when he asks Kenny to get him someone, at least until he gets proven wrong a few times. Who is doubting Coop? I was just surprised to see that he was watching Thornton for years. He seems to make all pitchers better, especially with control, which bodes well for the Sox and Thornton.

Here is the Offseason rankings from Hardball Times. I thought the rankings were pretty funny. Otherwise the assessments are pretty much online with others I have read. I just don't see how some of the other teams got ranked so high based off their written assessments. Best Offseason (Top 10) 1. LA Dodgers 2. NY Yankees 3. Oakland A's 4. Boston Red Sox 5. Chicago White Sox 6. Cleveland Indians 7. NY Mets 8. Toronto Blue Jays 9. Arizona Diamondbacks 10. Minnesota Twins http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/...ings-top-third/

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 21, 2006 -> 06:54 AM) Anderson looks like he has pretty good speed. Why the heck didn't he steal more bases in the minors? Bad technique or did he just not try to? I know he's been caught stealing a few times this spring. I saw one of his CS attempts and it looked like he got a bad jump and also picked the wrong pitch. He definitely has some speed, he just needs to use it better. Might be a confidence problem, because he has the speed to steal some bases.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 21, 2006 -> 07:04 AM) I think they will use Thornton for mop-up duties only and Logan as the true LOOGY. Thornton is obviously bad against both righties and lefties, but he's actually worse against lefties. His stats are somewhat deceiving. He is definitely better vs Righties and has a fairly low BAA of .231. It just looks like he walks way too many batters because that BAA is nowhere in line with his WHIP (1.64) vs Righties. For his career, batters only average .249 vs Thornton.

I really hope Coop can help Thornton gain some control. This was surprising to hear: If Coop pulls this off....he is the man.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 21, 2006 -> 06:43 AM) Not exactly the photo of Thornton that I want to see -- frustration after giving up 5 runs or so. I know, I couldn't resist. Hopefully it will be the last time we see him like that. The 2nd Nomo picture was not much better.

Jon Garland (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0IP, 1 BB, 0 K) starts for the Sox at Tucson Electric Park on Tuesday against the San Diego Padres. Chris Young (0-1, 9.72 ERA, 8.1IP, 6 BB, 5 K) starts for the Pads. Matt Thornton will also make his debut with the Sox today. Lets get win #6!

The problem is that there is a premium on pitching. So teams give up more for pitching than for positional players. Also, teams can get more for pitching, so in reality the Sawks could have gotten more for Arroyo, but Pena was not going to get the Reds anymore than that. Sawks needed depth in the Outfield and they got it. Reds needed more pitching and they got it.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 21, 2006 -> 02:18 AM) How bout' Brian Anderson? Spring average up to .290 or so. He's looked a lot better at the plate than he did the first couple weeks. Yeah, he is looking a lot better. I also like the fact that he is getting different types of hits, not just all singles or all HRs (which would be cool). He has 11 total hits, 2 2Bs, 2 3Bs, and 1 HR. That is some nice production. Now about AJ, just think how tough the middle of this lineup would be if he was batting .300+ compared to .257. That is a lot more times on base for guys to drive him in lower in the order. Also, Mackowiak (.320), Cintron (.600), Ozuna (.304), and Widger 3 HRs in 19 ABs make up the best bench in the league.

I know it is only Spring Training, but it is nice to see AJ hitting so well. 4 multi-hit games out of 8 total, 6 for his last 10 and only 2 K's in 23 AB's. It would be nice to see him get back to batting .300. AJ has never really been that good in Spring Training, he batted .222 last ST, .255 in 2004, .216 in 2003, and .224 in 2002, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come. He is currently batting .478.

Arroyo was the most expendable pitcher that had enough upside and decent contract to trade for a position that the Sawks clearly needed more depth in. I just think the Sawks could have gotten more for Arroyo. Pena is barely a Major Leaguer caliber player. A 5:1 K:BB ratio is horrible. He has more career strikeouts than hits and walks combined. Reminds me of Borchard. If you were just going off ST stats, the Sawks would be hurting: Spring Training Stats Schilling 9.00 ERA, 5 Ks, 0 BBs Papelbon 6.23 ERA, 7 Ks, 5 BBs Beckett 6.75 ERA, 4 Ks, 2 BBs Arroy 10.03 ERA, 7 Ks, 6 BBs Clement 0.00 ERA, 3 Ks, 0 BBs Wakefield 0.00 ERA, 7 Ks, 5 BBs

Leading off the first 6 innings is pretty good too. That is a lot of work.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...ts/14147068.htm

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 07:22 AM) I doubt it. There's not enough lefties for two extra lefty relievers to face and right-handed batters usually hammer sidearming lefties like Javier Lopez. I knew there was a chance:

I wish Hermie the best, but if they are not going to fix the injury, the pain is not going to go away.

Owens after an in season call up.

Didn't see these posted. Fields Ozuna

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 19, 2006 -> 07:57 PM) Folks, it's a tweaked hamstring. I got news for you...these things happen all the bloody time in Spring Training. It's what happens when you go from working out in a weight room to build muscle to working out on a baseball field, where you're starting from 0 and going to a sprint on sand in as little time as possible. These things happen to every single team. Players on every single team tweak hamstrings in Spring Training. Usually, around the beginning of the year, there'll be a few teams who have several guys who wind up missing games in the first two or three weeks because they pull a Hammy. Why? Because they took it too easy during the spring, never got these things otu of the way, and when the season hit, they weren't ready for it. All this means is that Jim Thome hasn't been playing baseball for the last 6 months. It doesn't mean a thing about his body, or his physical condition, or annything else. We should be happy it's happening now and not 3 weeks from now when it could cost us real games...because there are teams who's managers let that happen. I agree with you on that it happens all the time, but the only issue to monitor is if the hamstring injury affects his lower back. That would be more of a concern than the actual leg injury itself.

Logan and Nomo (who throws a no-hitter in ST).

I don't think Gooch has anything to worry about now, but if he doesn't figure something out at the plate over the next two weeks he might. Especially if Cintron keeps up his excellent hitting. That will make things really interesting. Ozzie likes going with the hot hand or bat so he might make the switch. A rejuvenated Nomo and fresh armed Logan would make a nice addition to the bullpen. I am anxious to see how Nomo pitches.

The comments in the Blog should be a riot.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 19, 2006 -> 02:51 AM) Maybe if he's hitting .118 on May 15th. No way you try that now. Gooch deserves the benefit of the doubt in this case. He was experimenting with his swing earlier in the spring, he's since then gone back to his normal swing. He's looked much better at the plate the last couple days. Gooch will be fine. That is what ST if for, to work on things, get in shape, etc. I don't think they will pull the plug on Iguchi now, but if April 2nd rolls around and he is still struggling, can the Sox afford to keep him in the lineup? The worst thing would be for the Sox to get off to a bad start. 15 of their first 18 games are vs the Central.