RME JICO

QUOTE(greg775 @ Feb 3, 2006 -> 10:44 PM) I can't imagine anybody being too upset this year no matter what happens. We're coming off the Big Show. I watched a special on Ditka last night and it showed him crying at the press conference when Bears fired him. It made me wonder. Will Oz someday get fired?? Managers are hired to be fired, but this guy brought us a World Series, something unheard of in Chicago, moreso with the Yankees buying themselves pennants all these years. Can you envision Oz EVER getting fired like Ditka did? I think it'd be a tragid day for chicago sports. I doubt that will happen that way, but you never know. I expect Ozzie will go out on his own terms.

Ozzie, Man Soo Lee, and Cora. That would give me the best chance of winning. or AJ, Crede, and Hermie for some golf cart fun.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 12:47 AM) Van Poppel, man he has to be one of the biggest busts of all-time. There was so much buzz around him in the late 80's early 90's. Then his career when like this: June 4, 1990: Drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 1st round (14th pick) of the 1990 amateur draft. August 6, 1996: Selected off waivers by the Detroit Tigers from the Oakland Athletics. November 12, 1996: Selected off waivers by the Anaheim Angels from the Detroit Tigers. March 26, 1997: Released by the Anaheim Angels. April 17, 1997: Signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals. June 6, 1997: Released by the Kansas City Royals. June 20, 1997: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers. July 17, 1998: Traded by the Texas Rangers with Warren Morris to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Esteban Loaiza. October 15, 1998: Granted Free Agency. January 18, 1999: Signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates. October 15, 1999: Granted Free Agency. November 22, 1999: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. November 5, 2001: Granted Free Agency. November 26, 2001: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers for 2 yrs, $4.5 Million? June 4, 2003: Released by the Texas Rangers. June 12, 2003: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cincinnati Reds. November 2, 2003: Granted Free Agency. December 8, 2003: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cincinnati Reds. October 28, 2004: Granted Free Agency. February 14, 2005: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Mets. - Hasn't played since 2004 with the Reds.

The Sox April 2006 schedule consists of 24 games: 3 vs CLE 3 at KC 3 at DET 3 vs TOR 3 vs KC 3 vs MIN 3 at SEA 3 at LAA I don't know if they will match last year's hot start, but the schedule is in their favor.

Mackowiak alone makes the bench better than most in the league. Not many bench players have played in 297 games in the last 2 years. Ozuna gives the Sox a legitimate base stealing threat off the bench; Widger plays very solid for a backup; and Borchard should fill in nicely. That last spot will probably be decided in ST. There will definitely be less of a fall off of performance this year when the bench players are in. Saying that, the bench last year did what they were asked to do most of the time and they definitely contributed to the WS Championship.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 09:02 AM) 2-3 will be in cohoots. There's money to be made in the US and they'll go the same route as Livan Hernandez. Just leave their hotel room. I think this will be the first and last time you see the Cuban team in the WBC for that reason alone. Just my personal opinion. I agree, and it will be interesting to see.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 03:15 AM) How is this offensive or distasteful? Cuba is pretty much a s***hole and there's a reason that these guys defect. Castro is a f***ing loon. I hope the best players defect and join the White Sox. I just didn't want to offend anyone. I agree with you, I would be defecting the minute I touched down in the US as long as my family was safe. I just wonder how many teams will be trying to court these guys if they make it to SD. Just say someone defects, can a team immediately sign them to a contract?

Now this would be horrible for the league and would cause a whole slew of issues, but do you think there is a remote possibility that any of these elite baseball players will try to defect during the WBC if Cuba gets to the finals in PETCO Park, San Diego? All they have to do is get to the finals of their Pool, which looks likely. Just curious to see what everyone thinks, but if the Mods find this too offensive or distasteful, please delete and accept my apology in advance.

I didn't know he was available, that might be the best off season acquisition EVER.

So if every player has a career year, no gets worse or hurt, then the Twins will win the Division. I guess the Cubs are going to win the WS too.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 30, 2006 -> 05:02 AM) If you've read about Brian Anderson and his defensvie capabilities on these boards, the one thing you WON'T have to worry about for him in 2006 will be his defense. All we're hoping for is that he can around .270, and basically do what Rowand did last year offensively, maybe with a little more pop. I just hope he can cut down on his K's.

QUOTE(ChWRoCk2 @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 07:29 PM) Pretty need extension, very useful, keeps me from opening numerous links to get to hotstove and war room and etc. Thanks, thought it could be useful to those that use Firefox. QUOTE(Reddy @ Jan 20, 2006 -> 03:58 PM) seriously those pics are amazing and the soxtalk extension jazz is amazing (thanks RME) No prob, glad I could help out some fellow Sox fans. DePloderer, is it possible to make any of those or other SoxTalk logo's into 16x16 png files, so I can use them in the extension? Normally when I resize larger ones down they look horrible.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 08:08 PM) I think Vazquez will be the biggest surprise in 2006 & it will again have the Yankeee's scratching their head as to why they can't get the same production out of these guys that the White Sox do. If Vazquez and Thome both have good years the Sox will be really hard to beat. The rotation never gives you a break, and the lineup has the potential to do the same.

Wonder is he will ever see that 2nd year option for $8.

Yeah, expect another 40 HR and 100 RBI from that Dodgers/Reds castoff. Good to see some love though. What a difference a year, and a World Series championship can make.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 06:43 PM) Oakland has Kirk Saarloos, who will serve almost the exact same purpose as BMac. Saarloos with a lifetime 4.80 ERA is in the same role as McCarthy, but B-Mac is a much better pitcher. The Sox bullpen is better, if you call Street and Jenks a wash, who compares to Cotts and Politte? Duchscherer and Calero? The starting pitching is pretty even, but we now have 4 guys with a lot of post season experience, and a 5th who has shown some nasty stuff in the past. Buehrle 3.12 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 236.2 IP Garland 3.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 221.0 IP Contreras 3.61 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 204.2 IP Garcia 3.87 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 228.0 IP Vazquez 4.42 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 215.2 IP Harden 2.53 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 128.0 IP Blanton 3.53 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 201.1 IP Haren 3.73 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 217.0 IP Loaiza 3.77 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 217.0 IP Zito 3.86 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 228.1 IP Overall the Sox have a slight edge. Also consider where they pitch half of their games, and the Sox pitchers stats look even that much better. Also, Haren had some great numbers, but can he do it for an entire season?

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 30, 2006 -> 12:30 AM) Not according to KW's comments at SoxFest. Who do you think it will be? If I had to pick one I would say Munoz.

This will be a great ST. It is probably Borchard right now, but a great ST by Sweeney or Owens could bump them up. If Grieve can find his old form as the ROY he has a shot, but a long one at that.

There is a good chance that it will be none of them.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 06:59 PM) Maybe this will quiet some of the crap that Pods took in the second half now... That took some balls to play through. Literally!

Paulie warms to 'C' http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws

I looked around and didn't see much on this subject except for more individual comparisons. Here is the basic total of offensive and defensive stats that need to be replaced from 2005. Players lost: (Rowand, Harris, Everett, Thomas, Perez, Blum, Casanova): G – 495 (157 – Rowand) AB – 1573 (578 – Rowand) R – 190 (77 – Rowand) H – 392 (156 – Rowand) 2B – 62 (30 – Rowand) 3B – 9 (5 – Rowand) HR – 52 (23 – Everett) RBI – 208 (87 – Everett) TB – 628 (235 – Rowand) BB – 119 (42 – Everett) SO – 312 (116 – Rowand) SB – 32 (16 – Rowand) CS – 16 (5 – 2 players) OBP – .325 (.333 – Harris) SLG – .399 (.590 – Thomas) AVG - .249 (.270 – Rowand) Players that will fill these roles: (Thome, Anderson, Mackowiak, Ozuna, Borchard, Gload, Owens) 1573 AB, 52 HR, .249 BA, 32 SB, .325 OBP, .399 SLG, .724 OPS The combination of Rowand, Everett, and Thomas accounted for almost 1200 ABs, and the bench players accounted for almost 400 ABs. It is hard to imagine the new players hitting less than 52 HRs, batting .249, with OBP of .325. The only stats that would seem hard to match would be the 3Bs and SBs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers lost: (Hernandez, Vizcaino, Marte, Takatsu): W-L 19-20 (6-5 - Vizcaino) ERA 4.63 (3.73 – Vizcaino) WHIP 1.52 (1.46 – Hernandez) G – 186 (66 – Marte) GS – 22 (22 – Hernandez) CG – 0 SHO – 0 SV – 13 (8 – Takatsu) SVO – 21 (9 – Takatsu) IP – 272.1 (128.1 – Hernandez) H – 286 (137 – Hernandez) R – 147 (77 – Hernandez) ER – 140 (73 – Hernandez) HR – 40 (18 – Hernandez) HBP – 17 (12 – Hernandez) BB – 128 (50 – Hernandez) K – 220 (91 – Hernandez) Pitchers that will fill these roles: (Vazquez, McCarthy, Bajenaru, TBD) 272 innings, 19-20 W-L, 4.63 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 128 BB, 220 K, 22 GS, 13 SV If Vazquez can give the Sox 200 IP, then there would only be a need for about 70-100 IP for the rest of the pitchers to pick up. The ERA and WHIP are not that spectatular, and Vazquez alone should be close to 200 K. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall, the collective numbers do not seem that hard to replace. This is also figuring the other players will produce close to the same numbers as in 2005. Looking really promising for 2006.

Where does Crede bat if Anderson doesn't win the job?

QUOTE(rventura23 @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 03:15 AM) Good response by Paulie, but Ozzie has handled it well too Ozzie is so good with stuff like that Yeah, Ozzie said bring it.

I like Paulie's response to Frank's comments. Nice to see teammates backing up Jim. This is going to be a fun year.