WCSox

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 30, 2006 -> 01:54 PM) Poor comparison how? Pitching for the cuban national team is the same as the MLB? Since when. One of the best pitchers in Cuban baseball history certainly is more talented than a one-time MLB All-Star with an overwhelmingly mediocre career. You're right. Re-signing that old fogie Count was stupid.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 30, 2006 -> 12:07 PM) Did you write off Contreras off at the beginning of last year? Contreras was Cuba's version of Roger Clemens. Garland has ONE good professional season under his belt. And Steinbrenner is paying us a huge chunk of Contreras' salary. Nobody is compensating us for Jon's bad pitching. Poor comparison. I "secured" a tank of gas at $3.10/gallon today, which is lower than market value. What a steal! While Jon is young, durable, eats innings, and has upside, he isn't doing much better than B-Mac could right now for just a fraction of the cost. I hope that he gets it together, but if his ERA isn't down in the low-5's by the end of this season, I'd be in favor of dealing him for a couple veteran relievers and giving B-Mac his spot in the rotation.

QUOTE(T R U @ May 30, 2006 -> 11:34 AM) If the payroll was really an issue we wouldnt have been throwing around money to Garland and Contreras like happened.. weve already got the 3rd highest payroll, somehow I am not seeing it as a big deal Our payroll is over $20 million higher than last year (~$30 million higher if you don't count the money that we got back in the Contreras and Thome trades). If the Sox go deep into the playoffs again this year, the extra revenue from the postseason (not to mention the people who became season-ticket holders just to get WS tickets) and the associated merchandise sales probably won't be there. The Sox will need to retain their 20,000+ season-ticket-holder base to be able to support a payroll like this over the long run.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 30, 2006 -> 11:24 AM) The fact that you said the word "Borderline" only argues my point better. I didn't realize that we were "arguing." When I use the word "borderline", I mean that he's very close. And given that Biggio probably has a couple of years left in him, I think that his chances to eventually get in (he won't be a first-ballot guy) will be high.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 30, 2006 -> 10:36 AM) He gets to 3000 hits and he's in. Definitely, but I don't think it's necessary. Hell, not even Bonds has 3,000 career hits. If he falls short of 3,000, I think that he still has a good shot of getting in sometime down the road. He's the face of the Houston Astros, a 7-time All-Star, has four Gold Gloves, over 400 career SBs, hits for average, and will be close to 300 career HRs by the time he retires. Definitely a borderline HOF career for a 2B.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 30, 2006 -> 10:22 AM) What do you guys think about Biggio? His numbers are outstanding for a guy who played 2B for most of his career. He'll most likely get in. Robbie Alomar is a lock.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 30, 2006 -> 09:24 AM) Manager Ozzie Guillen backed off earlier statements about Brian Anderson being on the verge of heading to Triple-A. ''It's not fair for the kid to think he has to play good [every at-bat],'' Guillen said. "We need him. He's a big part of the ballclub. Hopefully, he'll go out there and show some improvement." Per Roto That's good news. We need his defense.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 29, 2006 -> 10:15 PM) Now on paper, you see that and say "how the f*** is that worth 3 and 29"....but if your 26 and throw 200 innings, while having a slightly below league average or so ERA, it's worth it....especially on a team like this where he is the #5. So, it's OK for the Sox to spend $10 and $12 million over the next two years for a guy whose ERA will likely be in the mid/upper 4's and WHIP will be somewhere around 1.3-1.4? Maybe in the Bronx, where the owner has more money than God, but not in Chicago. The Sox can't afford to overpay for mediocre pitching. KW's going to need to unload some salary in the offseason to supplement the 'pen. Right now, it looks like either Garland or Freddy will be the odd man out.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ May 29, 2006 -> 03:51 PM) Most people loved the re-signing when it happened, and now the vast majority here have turned on him after 2 fairly average months. No, they're turning on him after two below-average months AND three additional years of mediocrity. Props to Jon for last season and all, but most people still remember 2002, 2003, and 2004. I really hope that Jon gets it together soon. But if he doesn't, the fans have 29 million reasons to criticize him.

Nelson wasn't even on a major-league roster at the beginning of the season. WTF do you guys expect? The Jeff Nelson of 2000 to suddenly re-appear? :rolly

QUOTE(soxhawks @ May 29, 2006 -> 04:07 PM) he was a total roider It seems kind of strange how his slugging percentage didn't touch .500 until his 10th year in the majors and then he suddenly had a 57-HR season two years later (and before steroid testing was implemented). I'm very, very suspicious.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 29, 2006 -> 02:18 PM) We really haven't beaten teams that are playing well either. Yes, and we're also not going over to the Tigers message boards and beating our chests because we have one of the best records in baseball a whole two months into the season.

QUOTE(Dawgs @ May 29, 2006 -> 08:23 AM) Lets talk now. No, how about we wait until the Tigers have beaten some teams that are actually playing well. The Indians and Twins don't fall into that category.

Garland's '05 numbers were a fluke in the sense that they're the high end of what he's capable of. He won't continue to be as bad as he has been this year, but I don't think he's ever going to do better than the 3.50 ERA/1.17 WHIP that he put up last season. He's just not consistent enough. QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ May 29, 2006 -> 07:17 AM) Garland is an innings eater and a good back of the rotation pitcher. ^^^ Unfortunately, $10 million/year is way too much for that kind of a pitcher.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ May 28, 2006 -> 01:55 PM) Wowee, I guess the Cy young is in the bag now, isnt it? What does Aaron Boone think of Brandon Inge's hitting? lol I think that we can pencil in the Tigers and Reds for the WS now.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ May 28, 2006 -> 02:00 PM) Garland gave up a leadoff double on his first pitch in that inning. He left an inherited runner in scoring position. That's baseball. Yes, and the pitch that lead to that double was near Figueroa's feet. Not exactly a bad pitch from Jon. B-Mac's wild pitch that allowed Figueroa to reach third and score on the DP didn't help, either. That said, Jon somehow only gave up four runs on those three bombs. He's freaking lucky. Given that he gave up a minimal amount of runs on four homers last week against the A's, something tells me that he's used up his luck. If he doesn't get his s*** together fast, he's going to get shelled in his next outing.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ May 28, 2006 -> 01:04 PM) Stopper my arse -- he gave up 5 earned runs in 6 innings. Name another starting pitcher who would have a 4-2 record with a 6.25 ERA. Garland is having a 2004 Shawn Estes season this year. To be fair, that 5th earned run was a result of B-Mac's wild pitch. And he seemed to be getting squeezed a bit at first. But, yes, Jon only really pitched well in the 3rd-5th innings. The one positive to take away from him today was that he threw strikes inside. But he really needs to keep those balls in the park... IIRC, he's given up something like 7 bombs over his past two starts. Yikes! Outside of that and Pods' pathetic error, we played quite well. The offense capitalized on opportunities and B-Mac and Jenks were very solid.

Outside of disliking the Pistons, I don't have much against Detroit. I actually feel sorry for the people that live there. It ain't a pretty city.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ May 27, 2006 -> 02:56 PM) Yes, like we did last year. I know someone said, "Oh well, they're pitching way better than their career numbers", but same thing with our staff for the most part. That's definitley true with regard to Garland, Politte, and Hermanson. But Buehrle and Garcia weren't very far from their career averages last season. Considering that Count was one of the best pitchers of his generation to come out of Cuba, 15-7/3.61 probably isn't anywhere near his career-best. El Duque was terrible as a starter and was injured for part of the year. We also lost our over-performing closer down the stretch and successfully replaced him with a rookie. On the other hand, the Tigers don't have a staff full of established guys who have been in the Top 5 or 10 in pitching before. Rogers is the only one who fits that category, and he has a well-documented history of mediocre pitching down the stretch. Bonderman has very good stuff and I could easily see him "pulling a Garland" this year, but it seems highly unlikely that both Maroth and Robertson would also do it in the same season. And if Verlander were to keep at his current pace, he'd be the next Doc Gooden. Tigers pitching has defintely turned a corner, but it's a real stretch to say that they'll finish the season with the league-low in ERA. The '06 Tigers staff reminds me a lot more of the '00 Sox than the '05 Sox.

QUOTE(FLsouthsider @ May 27, 2006 -> 01:02 PM) If you, or any other out-of-towners such as myself, have an extra $150 stuck in your couch cushions, I would highly recommend the MLB Extra Innings package. You get a good chunk of Sox games, plus a truckload of other MLB games. You won't get every game, but it's well worth the investment, IMHO. I agree with that, especially if your cable carrier doesn't offer WGN.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:38 AM) Try Again Hint: 1/3 does not equal .3 That is correct. An easier way to remember is that it's the amount of earned runs per 9 IP. To solve, set up a ratio of: (earned runs/IP) = (x/9 innings). Solve for x.

QUOTE(brijames @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:25 AM) Someone has to start slowing them down a little or before you know it they are gonna have a huge lead with no looking back. You mean they're not going to win 130 games this season? I'm happy for the Tigers. They haven't had a 90-win season or playoff appearance in 19 years. It's nice to see a storied franchise pull themselves out of the crapper. That said, we're not even two full months into the season. A lot can happen between now and the All-Star break. (Hell, Maroth just went on the DL with elbow issues.) It won't be until July or so that we know if the Tigers are true contenders or just this year's incarnation of the '05 Orioles or '03 Royals.

This would be a bad time to give up on Garland, even if he did want to waive that no-trade clause. He's coming off of an All-Star year and it's not even June yet. The Sox would be better off dealing Fields for a lesser player than Shields than one of our starters.

QUOTE(JackTalkThai @ May 25, 2006 -> 03:39 PM) Naw, keep doubting them and continue claivoyancing their fall back to .500. Seriously. What's the worse that can happen? You're proven wrong. Bid deal. And if the Sox were steadily improving like you say (which I'm not arguing that they weren't), then why were so many fans across the league calling them a paper tiger last year? Why were they seeming to play so often with a chip on their shoulder? Doubt is doubt and outside of Chicago skepticism was prevalent last season with regards to the Sox. Doubt just has a way of motivating and binding together lineups who feel they deserve more credit than what they're receiving. That was my point. I wasn't comparing rotations and I wasn't comparing their #6 hitter versus your #6 hitter. And how good was Florida's record the year prior to the historic run in 2003? They had fewer than 80 wins in '02 if I recall correctly. Fortunately there's more than one template to follow when engineering a pennant chase. Cheers. Comparing the '06 Tigers to the '05 Sox might make sense if the Tigers had more than one starter who has actually been an All-Star-caliber pitcher before. Or some depth in their bullpen. Or defense comparable to what we had last year. The comparison with the '03 Marlins makes a little more sense, although the '06 Tigers don't appear to have the offensive (Lee, Cabrera, Lowell, Pudge) or pitching (Beckett, Pavano, Willis, Penny) depth. Only time will tell. The Tigers also probably won't have the luxury of a superior opponent choking away the league championship game. BTW, LOL at all of the Detroit fans beating their chests in freaking May.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ May 26, 2006 -> 08:42 AM) A year ago, I never thought i would say this, but trade Fields... Crede needs to be a lifer. I pretty much agree. Even if his BA/OBP revert to his unimpressive career average, he's proven to be clutch both in the field at at the plate in high-pressure, big-game situations. KW needs to offer him a five-year deal before the end of this year. Fields might need to be used as trade bait for another reliever. I hate to get rid of talent like that, but if we have Crede's rights until 2008 and need help with the 'pen, he's possibly the odd man out.