SSH2005

Yeah, I noticed him too. He's coming back from surgery on his torn labrum. Bump had a 3.57 ERA in 68 innings as a reliever in 2004 and had a 4.03 ERA in 38 innings before going on the DL last July. He would fit the Vizcaino role of eating innings if he could stay healthy.

I found some good articles on Villarreal. Bob Brenly abused the hell out of this kid when he was with the Diamondbacks in his rookie season. He threw 98 innings as a reliever! :headshake That's apparently the reason why he has had arm problems for the past two seasons. "He throws heavy sinkers and sliders and keeps hitters off-balance with an occasional side-arm delivery." Villarreal hopes injuries are behind him Notes: Hurlers leave impression; Villarreal mows down collegians in exhibition game Scouting Report

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sportsstory.asp?id=168263 I think Cintron is going to be Ozzie's new Timo so at least he's good.

Yep, his stuff is great when he actually gets in it the zone but he's worthless when he's not throwing strikes.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/cst-spt-sox18.html

I read awhile ago that the Sox would have scouts watching the players in the WBC. Villarreal is pitching for Mexico so I'm sure they have been watching him.

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...ack=1&cset=true

Their outfield looks set with Jeff Francoeur in RF, Andruw Jones in CF, and a platoon of Ryan Langerhans and Kelly Johnson in LF so I can't see them being interested in Borchard. They also have a younger, better lefty first baseman in Adam LaRoche so I doubt they would want Gload either. My guess would be pitching prospect(s). That's something the Braves always like.

That was me. Villarreal's arm is apparently healthy now. He has had injuries to his elbow and shoulder the past two seasons but perhaps he has regained his 2003 form. He's still very young (24) which is nice. He also pitched in the Mexican Pacific League over the winter. Villarreal was supposed to compete with Chris Reitsma for the Braves' closer job but was likely going to be a setup man for them. He was impressing the Braves with his arm before he left to play for Mexico in the WBC. He will earn $462,500 this season. Borchard makes a lot of sense for the Marlins. They have uber-prospect Jeremy Hermida slated for RF, Eric Reed for CF, and a mediocre Chris Aguila for LF. They are going to stink for a few years so why not start Borchard and make Aguila their fourth outfielder? The Marlins know that they would have to trade for Borchard because there's no way he's lasting past the Royals if he goes on waivers. The Marlins have a TON of pitching prospects but not very many, if any, proven relievers. But Matt Herges is a non-roster invitee with the Marlins. Maybe KW wants to reunite Herges with Pierzynski? Sorry, bad joke.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...ack=1&cset=true We talked about Juan Cruz in another thread already. We were also talking about Antonio Osuna but the Sox are apparently looking at his WBC teammate with Mexico, Oscar Villarreal, instead. The Braves just acquired Villarreal along with Lance Cormier from the Diamondbacks in exchange for catcher Johnny Estrada in December. What is Kenny's obsession with ex-Diamondbacks? Very interesting news to say the least.

By the way, anyone want Dayn Perry's autograph? http://www.baseballprospectus.com/events/ I know I'll be there! Someone should bring him a photo of Podsednik to sign.

Great point. The whole point of the draft is to replenish farm talent every year anyways. I love KW's method. Trade away unproven talent for proven talent. I will take that method any day of the week over keeping every single prospect until they either get injured or never end up panning out. The Cubs do this with almost every pitching prospect they have and look where they are at.

Whatever. You seem to think that every scout recognizes every talented player out there in every country. They don't.

KW signed Tadahito Iguchi based solely on a video of him playing. You don't think that a big tournament in which everyone can actually see these guys play will help find more talent? C'mon...

Yeah, and you like our minor leaguers more right?

Agreed, KW's probably looking for fall-back options as we speak. That retirement talk would make anyone look for a replacement.

I would agree. Almanza will probably be the next guy cut and it will be between Logan and Lopez.

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws

I thought that Ozzie said that stuff about Munoz to help motivate him. Guess not. I think that Reynoso got a fair shot. He just isn't ready yet. His control isn't there yet (6 walks in 6.1 IP). Ozzie really wants a guy who throws strikes.

Boone Logan, Javier Lopez, and Armando Almanza.

Yeah, Koplove is signed for $1.175 million this season and is arbitration eligible in 2007 and 2008 and he's listed as a non-roster invitee. He's another side-armer like Logan and Lopez but from the right side. I don't know much about Daigle but he seems to give up a ton of hits in the minors and majors. He was a 1st round pick so he must have some talent though.

I don't see them trading Vizcaino back to us because their bullpen was so bad last season that they see him as a HUGE improvement/addition. Wow, Koplove could be a good option. Didn't even think of him. He's put up pretty good numbers except for last season... http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/NASApp...7377&statType=2 Maybe the heavy workload of 2004 (86.2 IP) got to him?

Or fourth outfielder talk as well.

And KW seems to like their players -- Vazquez, Lopez, Almanza, Cintron. Maybe the list will grow even larger?

JimH mentioned this in another thread... http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws