Damen

QUOTE(crazyman26 @ Jan 19, 2006 -> 09:58 AM) I am just curious what White Sox fans and management want out of Crede since my general impression seems they are unhappy with him and his production in alot of ways. His batting % and slugging % are not too good so they probably want those things improved. For somebody who only got 430 at bats last year and will probably only get about 430 at bats this year, wouldnt 22 home runs and 61 RBIs be reasonable? After all that would translate into 30 home runs and 80 RBIs for somebody who was getting 580 at bats. He is one of the best defensive 3rd baseman in the league. So I am just curious what he would have to do, and improve upon to impress people and keep his job? I'd like to see 2 things from Crede. 1) Less popups. 2) Less severe slump periods. I hope he turned the corner with his swing after his DL stint last summer. Because as the playoff's showed, when he's on, he's a fantastic addition to any team. But when Crede is off, it's painful to watch him at the plate. He might as well grip his bat upside down, because he ain't putting good wood on the ball either way.

QUOTE(AirScott @ Jan 19, 2006 -> 01:21 AM) don't be mistaken though, this will be a tight 3-team race. I would've expected the Twins to compete this year not having picked up Luis Castillo...their only problem is finding someone to play shortstop (though Bartlett couldn't do too much worse at the plate than last year). then I'd expect the Indians to finish with about the same record, just this time to even it out and not have to play .800 ball in the last few months just to make a playoff push before the Sox can sweep them and send them packing. I don't disagree with you. I'm not saying this is going to be a cakewalk, but of the three teams that matter in the Central, I'd say the Sox have improved their team the most on paper this offseason.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 19, 2006 -> 07:47 AM) Idonno why people say its bad when there is a lot of people there.... I dont go to a lot of games but the few i have have been 30,000 plus and we came maybe right when the 1st inning was starting and found parking fine no problem at all. There have 3 or 4 times the last few years when I'd drive to a game with a large crowd, and after directing you towards the lots around 37th street, the attendants would realize those are full, so basically you would be forced to slowly be directed around the neighborhood around the ballpark, only to be sent back to 35th & Shields with no plan to direct you into parking. If you're not going to direct me into a parking lot, don't direct me to go the same way as every other car just to send me back where I started. By that time, it's already into the second inning, and I could have found parking on my own a long time ago.

QUOTE(dmbjeff @ Jan 18, 2006 -> 04:43 PM) typical ESPN doin what they do best....um the Yankees and Red Sox will still be good, everyone else who was good will be bad...... go figure Had the Sox entered 2006 looking basically the same as 05 I don't know if I would have disagreed with the article. But we haven't. We've improved our hitting, improved our pitching, and kept our defense at the same high level it was last season. I don't see how you can judge the Sox roster heading into '06 and assume the Twins and Indians have gained ground with their marginal improvements.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jan 18, 2006 -> 09:35 AM) No way in hell I would get off at Cicero. That and Harlem are worse then the Ryan will ever be from 3:30 to 7 pm. Last year it wasn't too bad. Took maybe 15 minutes to get from the Ike/Ryan merge to the park in really backed up traffic. The half hour later start will probably make it about the same with the lane closures. I'm really not that concerned about it. When I'd come in from the western burbs for a game, I'd just park around the State/Roosevelt/Wabash area and jump on the redline. Street parking is pretty easy to come by that time of day and you're paying $3.50 or $4.00 as opposed to 17 - and you don't have to worry about the parking attendants sending you on a route to nowhere on big crowd nights (which looks like it will be often.)

I'm trying to figure out how someone can be pissed off that our spanish speaking manager's spanish speaking son has a spanish speaking radio show about a team who just won the World Series with a team whose star's often depended on the spanish speaking manager's spanish speaking son to translate for them in interviews.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 10:37 PM) Sounds a lot like the 2000-2004 Chicago White Sox, with slightly better balance, slightly better hitters, older players, and better defense(than the 2000-2004 teams). And 5 strong starters.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 12:09 PM) That's probably accurate, and I'd say that it probably won't go higher than that, even if they win 99 games again. What's the season ticket-holder base projected to be? Maybe 20,000? They'd need to average 37,000/game to get 3 million. Something tells me that they won't average 17,000 walk-ups per game. I think we'll have a better understanding of what the attendance will be after single game tickets go on sale. Before this coming year, it was pretty low, because there wasn't any rush to getting tickets. I could get get good seats to most series a few weeks before the game. This year, I know it's going to be different, so I'll be buying single game tix the day they are released, and I have a feeling I'm not going to be alone. The end result of this being, you're not going to need 17,000 walkups to sell out. There is going to be a far higher presale this year, which means walkups will be in the upper deck, not the right field stands.

i think this tejada stuff is as fun as the randy johnson stuff...

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 03:49 PM) They drew 2,342,834 according to my calculations from ESPN.com That's actually pretty amazing considering I had predicted before the season started a total of 2,329,000. I wasn't that far off. I think 3 million is a high goal but they can come pretty close. 2.7 or 2.8 might be more realistic. Opening night is no longer available via Ozzie Plans and the indiviual tickets haven't even gone on sale yet... Opening night hasn't been available for any of the plans for at least 2 weeks.

QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 02:10 PM) Thats not the point. The original point was that they have improved, something you thought no one else in the AL Central had done. The fact that they got Luis Castillo to fill a huge hole at second, Rondell White to improve on Jaque Jones, and a full season of Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano, yes, they have improved. And yea, since their pitching staff is so good, they do slightly worry me. Actually, that wasn't me who said that, that was someone else. I had said the Sox won't have any problems making the playoffs next year. I see the Twins as modestly improved, but far behind what we have done to our own club.

QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 01:56 PM) I said that if he surprises, he will be a significant improvement. He was a pretty good source of power in his youth. If he can show any power at all, which the Twins drastically need, it will be an improvement, specially because if he sucks, they don't lose any money. Also, his name is Tony Batista, not Bastilla, my mistake. To take it back to the original point of this post, do these moves make the Twins worry you in '06?

QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 01:50 PM) Neither would I, but if he's free if he doesnt make the roster, how can it hurt? Not that it will hurt, but you're using him as an example of significant improvement?

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 12:42 PM) And we all know how fun that was in 2004. Because he had a few bad starts in 04, that prevents him from ever being successful again as a starter? I don't think he's got enough variation to be a consistent SP, but I think he could be effective in a few spot starts. And we could always call up Munoz to be a lefty reliever to take his spot. I agree, with Ozzie it's probably unlikely, but I wouldn't mind seeing him get another chance.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 12:33 PM) We dont make the playoffs if McCarthy doesnt step in for El Duque last season. I dont think Felix Diaz can have the same impact if one of the 5 go down. We also barely made the playoffs because our offense was terrible last year, until the playoffs hit. And the Sox also planned on Hernandez not being able to last the course of the season. Their staff now consists of guys who can throw innings consistently. I have full confidence that this team could survive missing 10 or 15 starts from a staff w/o Contreras and still make the playoffs easily.

And one more point, even if we do see a SP injury and Felix Diaz has to embarrass himself for a few games, I still don't see this team having any problem getting into the playoffs. Our team is better than last year, the indians and twins don't appear to have improved much and may have gotten worse.

QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 12:21 PM) And again, since this has been asked at least 3 or 4 times, what happens if one guy gets hurt? We don't have anyone in our minors to take their place. It's a risk I'm willing to take. I think Bajenaru should be ready to enter the majors this year in the pen, and if there's an injury to the SP, you could always move Cotts into the rotation for a few spot starts. And, again, you are increasing the offense the team will be able to generate. We aren't just losing Contreras, we are gaining an elite SS - both at the plate and in the field.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 12:08 PM) All Damen has to do is look back at the years 2004-2001 to see this point. Man...I register to make a post about attendance...an hour later I've gotten no work done and am in argument with everyone on the board. And again, I see this as a largely meaningless discussion considering the outside chance this happens, but please tell me you honestly don't believe that our lineup w/Tejada and w/o Contreras & Uribe is like 01-04. It's not even close. We still have a solid 1-5 pitching staff. Our defense would still be vastly better than what it was in the early part of this decade. We didn't lose in 01-04 because our offense was too good, it was because our defense and pitching was bad.

QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 12:06 PM) I think its mainly the lack of pitching depth. Our strength is the pitcher. We tried having a team based around power for years, and it didn't work out. Now, with a team based around pitching, defense, and the timely hit, we won a World Series. Pitching depth in this league is very valuable in this league.. I'd rather hold onto it. Okay, maybe I'd buy into that if our fifth starter would be Scott Schowenwiess. But it's going to be Brandon McCarthy. And if we all assume Contreras will continue his second half/playoff success, why can't we do the same for McCarthy? If he can maintain anywhere near his effectiveness he showed last year, we still will have one of the best staff's in baseball, coupled with a seriously dangerous offense. If this trade went through, and personally, I doubt its going to happen, this team is better - hands down.

QUOTE(Adam G @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 11:57 AM) Well, we wouldnt have a clear cut #1 pitcher anymore. But I wasnt saying that the lineup wouldnt be better, because it probably would be. I was just replying to you calling Contreras replaceable, which isnt really true. We wouldnt be able to fill his spot in the rotation with someone of a similar caliber. I called Contreras replaceable not because I think McCarthy will be able to mirror his numbers, but because the increase in offensive prowess this provides, along with a guy like McCarthy to take over the fifth spot will make up for the loss. And I really don't think having to settle for Buerhle as a number one again is going to hurt us too much.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 11:56 AM) Then you are short one pitching spot in the pen since BMac moves to the rotation. Considering that pitchers spot was Vizcaino's last year, who gained a majority of his innings in mop up work, I'm confident we can fill that spot in spring training and the increase in offense Tejada provides will more than make up for it. I can see the argument that this may not be the best trade for us long term, in terms of shoring up salary space. But I can't understand for the life of me how anyone could think this trade wouldn't vastly improve us in 2006.

QUOTE(Adam G @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 11:52 AM) Contreras was the best pitcher in baseball in the second half and in the playoffs last year. Replacing that isnt that easy. So you believe that a team with this rotation Buerhle Garland Garcia Vazquez McCarthy and a lineup with Tejada/Konerko/Thome at the heart is worse off?

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 11:51 AM) He cost too much to get and alot of $$$$$$$$$$$. other than that.... If you're trading Contreras and Uribe, then Tejada's salary is a wash. So you don't want to improve the ballclub while keeping the payroll the same?

Why would you not want Tejada on the Sox, in exchange for an inferior SS and a replaceable pitcher?

QUOTE(SoxFanInDallas @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 11:08 AM) Between 42k and 43k More like 40K. Although they'd call sellouts at around 38 last year.