SSH2005

Well, if Podsednik does end up missing some time this season, a platoon of Mackowiak and Ozuna in LF damn sure looks a lot better than a platoon of Timo and Ozuna in LF. They are still only bench players but they are at least good bench players. Man, that sucks so much. A healthy Hermanson wasn't going to match his awesome 2005 season but he would have been a nice guy to have for the 6th and 7th innings. He should just have the surgery, collect his paycheck (he probably earned it for last season alone), and worry about being able to pick up his kids.

Eischen would have been a great lefty to target, well, before Boone Logan became the greatest LOOGY ever of course.

The Sporting News magazine picked the Sox over the Cardinals in the WS as well. This is the first year that I'm actually buying into the A's. They look really good this season.

Haha, I saw your post at Southsidesox. It would be freaking sweet if KW could rob Bowden again for Ryan Church this time. Hell, Bowden seems to want a prototypical leadoff hitter with speed so bad -- send him back Jerry Owens for Church. The dude trades a ton of talent for a disgruntled and horrible second baseman who said that he didn't want to play LF even before the trade. Now he sends one of his best outfielders down to the minors. How in the f***balls does he still have a job? Just wait until I cyber-rape you in the chat room.

Inside joke? What are you referring to exactly?

Per NBC 5 news: "Scott Podsednik is questionable for opening night." Also, they showed a video of Pierzynski forcing a Florida Gators helmet onto Widger's head with Widger calling Pierzynski a "bandwagon jumper."

One thing about Podsednik is that speed doesn't last forever. Podsednik isn't old having just turned 30 years old but his speed will eventually decline, if it hasn't started to already. Juan Pierre will also be virtually worthless when he inevitably loses his speed.

As ugly as Podsednik is to watch play defense due to his late jumps (I agree), I believe Baseball Info Solutions' "The Fielding Bible" ranked him as the first or second best defensive LF'er in outs made over the average LF'er last season. His arm is still pathetic though. Unfortunately, I also think he will be missing some time due to his groin this year. How sick would it be if we could get a healthy 2003 version of Podsednik this year? Podsednik (2003 stats): 558 AB / .314 AVG / .379 OBP / .443 SLG / .822 OPS / 9 HR / 58 RBI / 43 SB / 10 CS

Durazo had Tommy John surgery last July. He put up good numbers from 1999-2004.

Podsednik was pretty awesome before the All-Star break last season (.294 AVG / .369 OBP / 44 SB / 9 CS). He was getting on base a ton and was hardly ever caught stealing. I hope we get that healthy version of Podsednik for a full season. Better yet, give me 2003 Podsednik. He was a freaking STUD that year. Rangers. I believe they converted him from 2B to CF. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/Y/ruddy-yan.shtml

That's what Ozuna is for! Mackowiak even has some decent speed and is a pretty good base stealer. Cintron may have decent speed (not really sure) but he's definately not a base stealer. Our bench kicks ass and it's the best one I can remember in a long time.

I feel the same way. If Podsednik's groin is hampering his SB ability, I'd rather see him planted on first base with Thome coming up than see him get caught stealing and have Thome up with no one on base.

Pagan definately looks like a decent fourth or fifth outfielder. He can play CF and has good speed which makes him valuable. He's damn sure better than Marquis Grissom at this point. But the Sox seem to only want Thome DH'ing. They don't want him playing first base this season. They realize that his bat is absolutely HUGE in our lineup and don't want to risk him to an onfield injury. That's why we need Gload.

Nice, I like the honeycomb / soccer ball design.

Yep, it does. But I'd rather have a guy on first base than a guy getting thrown out trying to steal second base. Afterall, Podsednik will still have some boppers in Iguchi, Thome, and Konerko to drive him in from first base anyways.

Well, the greedy bastard was actually the Red Sox. They didn't even want Graffanino to begin with. The only reason they offered him arbitration was because they thought he would decline it to become a free agent. They just wanted the compensatory draft pick they would get from Graffanino leaving via free agency. Too bad he accepted the arbitration offer.

If Podsednik's groin bothers him this season, he should not even try to steal bases. We already saw it last season. He can still get on base but he's an easy caught stealing with a nagging groin.

Podsednik seems to be a bit injury-prone to me. Herm Schneider's quote about him basically said the same, but in nicer words. I'm sure Podsednik's health this season will have a big impact on how long he is with the Sox in the future. If Pods misses a lot of games this season and Jerry Owens and Ryan Sweeney rake at AAA, we could have a new starting LF'er come 2007 opening day.

Where are these stories about Ozuna killing lefties with Scranton? I don't remember them. Link? Regardless, I hope Ozuna can get the job done if Podsednik misses any time. I guess we can agree on that.

That was Ozuna's overall line with Scranton (Phillies' AAA team) in 2004. That's not really proof that he "pounded lefties." For all we know, he was killing righties instead of lefties. Regardless, he was a 30 year old playing at AAA. Afterall, Greg Norton looked pretty studly with the Charlotte Knights last year. Doesn't mean much though.

When Ozuna was still a prospect, he had lied about his age. He turned out to be 4 years older than he said he was. That means that Ozuna was 4 years too advanced for every level he played at in the minors. Also, do you have minor league splits to prove that he has always hit well against lefties? Just curious.

I don't know if he will -- only Podsednik, Herm Schneider, and the Sox do. But we are talking about Ozuna replacing Podsednik in the lineup afterall. If Podsednik's groin continues to nag him (which apparently it is) he could miss even more time over the course of the season, increasing Ozuna's playing time and therefore decreasing our overall production in LF.

You said that that there wouldn't be a dropoff from Podsednik to Ozuna. I disagreed. That's about all that happened. And I don't know why you keep saying that Podsednik might only miss two games. How do you know? Yep, small sample size.

98 AB's is a bit of a small sample size, IMO. But I'm not ignoring anything. Podsednik has outperformed Ozuna against lefties over his career and also last season. That means that Ozuna will be a downgrade from Podsednik, for any amount of time. I actually used stats to back up my point so I don't see why you are arguing with me. If Ozuna is just as good as Podsednik, why don't we trade Pods and start Ozuna in LF?

By the way, how exactly do you know when Podsednik will be back? Yesterday, you thought that he was going to play in today's game and you were sure he would be fine to start on opening day. What gives? Yep, and that's why I posted both Ozuna's career stats against lefties and his 2005 stats against lefties. Good call. :rolly Ozuna is a downgrade from Podsednik for any amount of time. He's a freaking bench player. To quote qwerty, "Cheesus lice."