NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 02:19 PM) Yeesh, career vs Harden Konerko: 1-15 w/ 4K, 2BB Pierzynski: 0-11 w/ 4K Rios: 2-11 Vizquel: 2-9 w/ 3K, BB Kotsay: 1-3 Quentin: 1-3 w/ K Peavy: 0-2 Ramirez: 1-2 Combined: .143/.186/.143/.329 w/ 12K, 3BB, 0 XBH in 59 PA So Konerko and Pierzynski are a combined 1 for 26 w/ 8 K against Harden. Perhaps AJ could use another night off. Oh come on now, you are including Peavy in there. Still, even without him, that's a .170 average. The only guys in there who look truly bad are AJ, Rios and Vizquel (and I'd bet Vizquel doesn't play). Kotsay, Quentin and Ramirez are hitting .375 against him, in very small sample sizes.

Tyson Corley not responding to the promotion too well. 1 IP in 2 outings, given up 4 ER. Tyler Kuhn keeps hitting, still over .300. I have yet to ever find any scouting info on that guy, but he seems to consistently hit for average at every level, good contact rate, and can play a number of positions. Anyone know anything about him?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 02:08 PM) Jordan Cheatham has been promoted to Winston-Salem. Does this mean Brady Shoemaker goes back to Kannapolis? Who dropped off the W-S roster? Also, I thought Cheatham wasn't really a starter anyway.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 02:14 PM) But you'd only have to be right on one player out of 20 to make your money back... Correct? I think most people who play the stock market believe they could do better than picking 1/20 companies to "explode," just like you HOPE your mutual fund manager can do the same with his bundles of stock picks. But if you did it with the White Sox over 10-12 years, the only time you would be right would have been betting on Buehrle, Rowand and I can't remember, did Crede make it once? Maybe he didn't... Just for argument's sake, who would you pick? I'll go with Santos Rodriguez. Point #2, outside of Trayce Thompson, what argument can you make that we're not (as many are arguing) anything more than the 26th/27th/28th/29th/30th organization in terms of projectable major league talent? Stocks are not on or off. Totally different kind of gambling. I only know a little about other systems. But I have read some lists and know some names. I can tell you more accurately where the system stands compared to where it has historically. 2007 was the low point, IMO. It got a lot better 2008-2009, and is still there. But as with all systems, there are strengths and weaknesses. I see the Sox system going into this season as having some nice catching prospects - Flowers, Phegley and Gonzalez in particular - but now Phegley is "hurt". I wouldn't worry a ton about the other two having slow starts, its still quite early. Starting pitching is lacking, but there are a few guys in there who I think are future major leaguers. Relief pitching has good depth. 3B does too. 1B/DH and power generally is lacking, OF is mostly lackluster with a few exceptions (Mitchell, Thompson, D2, a few other marginal ones). Middle infield is sorely lacking.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 01:52 PM) I was being facetious to an extent about Gilmore, but not 100%. Kotsay was great last season, but he can't be overextended, and there's certainly the chance he just went on a tear like Pierre with the Dodgers and some were fooled into thinking he could repeat it. Which ratings have Hudson rated anything higher than 30-50 out of the Top 100? I could have mentioned Maurice Gartrell, for example....he's sort of like David Cook, do you agree? Yet do you think he'll ever sniff 100 MLB at-bats with the White Sox, either Greene or Gartrell (or Salvador Sanchez), all of those eventualities would be shocking. I'll give you Shirek, he could definitely become more than just a "sleeper" prospect, he's got a nice arm. But then, I've also thought the same thing about Brian Omogrosso and 100's of White Sox prospects throughout the ages. So I've learned to temper my enthusiam. It's just a little frustrating when our MLB team looks like it's bottom 8-10 and our minor league system looks bottom 3-5. Last year, the argument was that we were Top 15-20 in the majors, maybe even as high as 12/13/14. Right? I get that Beckham's no longer a rookie and notch on our belt, that we traded Brandon Allen, that Viciedo came up short in the eyes of some who projected him as Miguel Cabrera Lite...the way I look at it, we don't have many prospects capable of becoming All-Stars. Mitchell (if he rebounds 100%), Flowers (only at catcher) and Trayce Thompson, at least to me, are the ones with that projectability. Danks, Viciedo, Hudson and Morel (I was wavering about him being able to make it to that elite level) all have some identifiable flaws that limit their ceilings, would you not also agree? Outside of those 7, what prospects would you bet $1,000 that they will make the MLB All-Star game in the future, if your bet payoff would be $20,000 for being correct on a call? Escobar? Gonzalez? Holmberg? Phegley? Santeliz? Gilmore? Shirek? Santos Rodriguez? I wouldn't make that bet on any prospect, ever, period. They are prospects. And Gartrell is much more highly considered internally by the Sox than Cook ever was. Different animal. The only parallel is that they are OF's who got to the higher levels a year or two older than you'd like to see.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 01:31 PM) Certainly true that there won't be a lawsuit filed against a single police officer for not checking that. However, the individual police officer is going to have to do the checks that his municipality insists upon, correct? If the city/county/state puts out rules saying that the officer doesn't have to do a detailed check, that opens them up at that level to legal action. On the other hand, if the city/county/state puts out the most stringent rules possible, then either the officer goes forward in all cases with a full, detailed check of all documents or the officer is violating his rules. Lawsuits against specific police officers for not enforcing specific laws are pretty much DOA in the court system. Police only enforce a small number of laws and a small number of violators at any given time, and they are given leeway for prioritization. It is wholly impractical to have it any other way. My concerns are not about police officers individually being sued. Its officers being forced, by law or department policy, to enforce a law with the flaws we've noted earlier. it opens them up to disciplinary action, and opens up the department as a whole to litigation.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 01:14 PM) And they can be potentially sued if they don't push for more. This is something lost in the discussion it seems. Immigrants or people who aren't lily white are not the people who this causes problems for. You are putting cops in a very tough situation here.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 12:24 PM) It won't go that far. For example, under the Immigration Reform and Control Act, employers are only required to check citizenship documents to determine if they are facially valid. The document need only reasonably appear to be valid on its face. That's about as far as any police officer should be required to go. That's sort of my point. If it can't go further than that, what does a cop do, if he is presented with what appears to be a valid passport or other ID? He should really do nothing more, but the way the law is written, they are pushing for something more, that is intrusive and impractical.

QUOTE (WHITESOXRANDY @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 12:54 PM) The whole premise is stupid. The Sox could trade for any player but what's left of the team after the trade? Viciedo isn't going to interest, let alone excite, the Brewers. So, the Sox send Rios and Floyd to Milwaukee for him. Would the Sox be a better team ? Not at all. The only way that KW makes a deal like that is with minor leaguers. And, the Sox have crap in the minors. The Sox do have some pieces in the minors, depending on what MIL wants in exchange for 1.5 years of Fielder. Hudson struggled a lot in his last start but is still highly considered, Shirek looks good in AA, and there are some toolsy guys further down the line that might help a package. Add to that someone like Jordan Danks, and it starts to get into the right territory for a relatively expensive rental and the salary relief that MIL is seeking.

Shirek's April is closed, since he last started on 4/27. Charlie has been very impressive so far with B-Ham. Here are his April stats... 4 G (all starts) 1-0 (3 ND, B-Ham's offense has been less than stellar) 26 IP 16 H 2 ER 5 BB 14 K 46 GB vs 17 FB 0.69 ERA 0.73 WHIP .180 AvgA 2.56 GO/AO 1.73 BB/9 4.85 K/9 So Charlie was very good. All of his numbers were stellar but one - his K rate of just under 5/9 is not spectacular. But its a big improvement over what he did last year, so that is encouraging. And his fantastic GB/FB ratio makes the K rate less worrisome. The emphasis for Shirek is still to miss more bats, but its less concerning than it was in 2009. If he keeps this up, he'll see Charlotte sooner rather than later.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 11:39 AM) Hoiberg won a lot more fans at that presser. He readily admitted he'll be learning on the job, though. If the packed house is any indication at the presser, they're probably going to average the greatest attendance per win in the power conferences next year. I think the biggest challenge with him will be recruiting. I'd bet he'll figure out the in-game and workout coaching, and the personality issues, pretty quickly.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 12:12 PM) Meh, no thanks. I would rather take Lance Berkman since he will come much cheaper. True, but Fielder has one year of arb left after the current contract, so you'd get him for relatively cheap for a 2nd year. Berkman, I believe, has an expensive option for that next year.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 12:15 PM) Is it just me, or has it seemed like Flowers has not been playing much lately? Did not play the 18th, 20th, 22nd, 25th, or 28th. He may be taking days off to work on specific things in pre-workout or post-game, so they may be resting him for some of those days.

Salvador Sanchez with a double to break up the no-no.

Some guy named Austin Bibens-Dirkx is no-hitting B-Ham through 4.

Two games already underway... Charlotte leads Columbus 1-0 in the 3rd, Harrell looking decent so far Tennessee leads B-Ham 2-0 in the 4th, Justin Cassel getting hit a bit W-S @ Frederick, 6:00pm CT, Griffith (3-0, 0.90) gets the start Lakewood @ Kanny, 6:05pm CT, Hopps (0-1, 6.57) starting

QUOTE (hogan873 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 10:51 AM) True, one guy can't make all the difference with his bat, but his presence can make a huge difference. If KW does make such a move and brings in a Fielder-type guy, I would be willing to bet that the entire club would be energized...as would the fans. The difference a guy like that could make goes beyond just the offensive upgrade at his position. We have an offense that is terrible right now, but its also obvious that this many guys aren't going to continue hitting that far below their norms. Adding in another bat can, indirectly, help wake up the beast.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 10:20 AM) The guy was my first sports hero... Here's a Freddy story that very few people would know, but that shows you something of Fred's character... While in college at ISU, I worked in group homes with mentally retarded kids and adults. One resident of one of the houses was a HUGE ISU sports fan, went to all kinds of events, was known to everyone in the athletic department (Alex might actually know him). Basketball was his fave though. I used to take him to various events. End of Freddy's senior year, they had the annual team awards banquet. I took this individual with me to it, which he was invited to by Fred, and only maybe a couple hundred people were invited. Fred was set for a speech of course. He gets up there, thanks his parents first, then his fiancee... then says he wants to thank the world's biggest Cyclone sports fan, points to my guy, and asks him to stand up and take a bow. Got a round of applause. Fred had, for years, come by the house to visit this guy and hang out as well, which he did not have to do. He's just a good guy. Funniest moment of the night though, wasn't Freddy, but I can't help but share this. So this guy and I are in the buffet line getting food, and across from us is Loren Meyer (center on that team, brief NBA career, not a particularly nice guy). A week before this, ISU had lost in the 2nd round of the NCAA's to North Carolina. My guy says hello to Loren, who just sort waves at him. The guy starts telling a story that basically went like this "So, i was listening to your game on the radio, and you were winning like 27-9, so I took a nap, and when I woke up you guys were losing. That sucked." Loren stops in his tracks, looks up, and just stares at this kid like he had 3 heads. I then sort of pushed the guy along, like, OK, let's just keep walking. I tried so hard not to bust out laughing.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 09:43 AM) Gosh, decided on a 5-4 decision. Who'd have imagined that? I wonder who the 5 were on the majority. I agree with this decision.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 09:41 AM) If they have a passport and VISA they are not here illegally. Just boosting our tourism dollars. This area is a ghost town without Mexican Nationals and the hundreds of millions of dollars they pump into our local economy. Visa, that is valid? Yes. Passport? Not necessarily, if they can't check it through the immigration systems. And last I know, cops ont he street don't have passport scanners on the MCATs. They'd have to call INS or whomever.

QUOTE (hogan873 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 09:47 AM) If Peavy pitches well and the Sox win tonight, maybe all game threads will have to be of minimalist character. Hey man, my threads got us the only 3 game winning streak this year!

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 10:33 AM) Best post I've read so far. This team can hit, field, sometimes pitch or run the bases. One guy isn't going to change all of that. Let this season tank. I could hear Jim Mora now. "Playoffs?" "Playoffs?" Since Kenny is into getting players past their prime, might as well get Cecil Fielder. LOL, in April, in a division with only one truly good competitor in it for the Sox (MIN). OK.

Portland? I'm a little jealous. I've moved states a few times, but not since I've owned property. Would this company include things like housing assistance and moving assistance in the offer? That would be key, for me, to at least know if that is on the table for discussion. With the housing market as it is, you may have to take a decent hit on your place. And yes, I'd rent at first, until you get settled in and are sure you like the new job.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 08:47 AM) Gonna try again for Friday, Shredded a tire on the way in last week. That always sucks. Not so bad on the way home, but on the way TO work, it screws up a tight schedule. I think I busted two tubes last summer, then changed over to the Kevlar bead tires.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 08:44 AM) And if he wants a long-term coaching career...he starts building up "Head coaching experience". Even when playing in college, he had future coach written all over him. This was a guy who, while being an All American basketball player, also finished two bachelors degrees (Finance and I think Econ), with something like a 3.8 GPA. He's a smart dude, and he ran that team like a well oiled machine on the court.