Lillian

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 11:49 AM) maybe MLB will add a fitness competition that can snag us a few more wins. Very funny. However, we are talking about a former perrenial All Star, and genuine super star, who got injured, became overweight and out of shape. His performance then fell off dramatically, right at a time in his career when he should have been in his prime. That suggests the possibility that his getting healthy and in shape could make a significant difference. Here is a link to his injury history: http://www.baseballinjurytool.com/injury-tool.php I understand that he has been linked to PEDS, however he was always a very good player until the last few years. Moreover, steroids don't help a hitter to make contact, nor to win Gold Gloves. Perhaps they made him stronger, and maybe he wouldn't have hit 51 homers in 2005 without them, but this guy was an elite player. He has really only struggled for the first time in his career, during the last 3 seasons, the time that he was hurt, and out of shape. Even then his numbers from last year project to 36 doubles, 34 homers and 86 RBI's. Wouldn't you take that at DH? The previous season, his first with the Dodgers he was injured and missed more than half the season. The year before that, his last year in Atlanta, he did have his first really bad batting average year, but even then he was productive, with 94 RBI's. I just think that while your point is well taken, in that they don't award wins or championships for being healthy and in shape, the improved physical condition can definitely enable a gifted athlete to perform up to his potential, while being injured and out of shape is a tremendous handicap. I'm optimistic, and am looking forward to seeing what he can do, especially with his apparent improved attitude. And remember that he's playing for a contract.

As I stated in another thread, if Jones does play up to management's hopes and expectations, he should be in the lineup against both right and left handed pitching. He has always hit about the same against both, so it doesn't make any sense to platoon him with Kotsay. 25 homers is a very modest and conservative projection for Jones if healthy, and in shape. I would think that he would produce more power than that. If so, he could bat as low as 5th in the order, providing of course that he can at least match his .325 OBP from last year. Moreover, as some of you have suggested, if he is healthy and in shape, he should be playing right field. He would be a much better right fielder than Quentin. I don't really know who should play Left. Pierre can cover much more ground than Quentin, but Carlos has a far better arm. The intangible there is that, on the one hand it would be nice to have Quentin DH. in order to reduce the risk of injury. However, on the other hand, his intense make up is probably not well suited for that role. He needs to focus on defense, rather than dwell on every at bat.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 12:55 AM) Number of hitters "capable" of hitting 15+ home runs is not a good way to measure team power. First, "capable" doesn't really provide a sense of likelihood. Several of the players you're including average under or just around the 15 HR mark. A team like the Twins may have a smaller group of guys who have hit 15 HRs at a point in their career, yet that group could still out-HR our larger group. These are also two teams who had below AL average power output last year. And the position traditionally reserved for the team bat with the most power, we have chosen to chalk in an inadequacy platoon. Kotsay is a singles-hitter who as a lefty could get the lion's share of DH ABs at this point. Jones clearly has a powerful bat and was no doubt one of the 8 hitters you're speaking of, but his recent performance doesn't inspire much confidence If Jones is performing up to management's expectations, there would be no reason to platoon him. His career stats indicate that he has always been able to hit righties about as well as lefties. His power presence would favor him over Kotsay, even vs righties. Kotsay is better served as a bench player. Now if Jones is not performing then we really have a problem.

QUOTE (WSoxMatt @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 08:07 PM) Damon wants the 2 yrs and Detroit is the ONLY team offering him that right Perhaps he does indeed want 2 years, but do he and his wife want 2 years in Detroit?

For the kind of money now being talked about for Damon, why not revisit the option of Carlos Delgado? He can't play the field, so it looks like his options are limited to an American League team as a DH. So, what team needs a left handed power hitting DH more than the Sox? If he signed with the Sox, he could bat cleanup, right in the middle of all of the right handed hitters: Pierre Beckham Quentin Delgado Konerko A.J. Rios Teahen Ramirez That would add a presence and make the offense formidable. If Delgado struggles vs lefties, there is always Jones as a platoon option. The question is; whose roster spot would Delgado take?

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 6, 2010 -> 04:08 AM) The deal would require Flowers and Hudson. Giving them Paulie, and paying even $10M of his contract would basically make it so instead of Flowers-Hudson-Viciedo-D2-Other it'd be Flowers-Hudson-Paulie-Other. Essentially, to get Gonzalez, you give up the top of our system (aside from Mitchell or D2, as only one would go) Would you do that deal? Konerko, with most of his salary paid, J. Danks, Flowers and Hudson for 2 years of A. Gonzalez seems a little steep, but I think I'd be satisfied even with that, especially if Gonzalez could be signed to a long term deal. However, I doubt the Sox would spend the money needed to get him to stay.

Thanks fellas for the clarification. Well, wouldn't it be worth it to pay almost all of Konerko's salary for 2010 if the Sox could get Gonzalez without having to give up too many prospects. If they could keep Hudson and Flowers, I'd be in favor of giving the Padres Paulie with as much of his contract paid for as they need to make it work for them. Then give them J. Danks and whatever other prospect they'd want, not including Flowers or Hudson.

Would the Padres be interested if Konerko could be included with the prospects, especially if the Sox were willing to pay part of his salary? If the Sox paid $6 of the $12 million owed Konerko, that would bring the total cost of A. G. to about $10.75 million for this year, which is still less than they would owe Konerko. That might help entice the Padres, as they would have a replacement at 1B for Gonzalez, which could appease the fans.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 10:44 PM) He might be an asshole but he let's talk about what he brings to the table. He is way better option than Kotsay or Jones, you put him in DH or LF (we don't want both Pierre and Damon on the field at the same time), interchange him with Pierre, that's your decent 1 - 2 combo. Pierre LF/DH Damon LF/DH Beckham 2B Quentin RF Konerko 1B Rios CF AJP C Teahen 3B Ramirez SS Wouldn't it be better to place his left handed bat somewhere in the middle of the lineup? Why not bat him behind Quentin, and in front of Rios. I'd also prefer to separate the other two left handed bats, A. J. and Teahen. How about this lineup vs. Lefties? Pierre LF (he has actually been better vs. lefties over his career) Beckham 2B Quentin RF Damon DH Rios CF A. J. C Konerko 1B Teahen 3B Ramirez SS I like Pierre leading off vs lefties, not only because he has an historically higher OBP vs lefties than righties, but also because he is capable of stealing off a Lefty. Damon would not be running vs a Lefty, at this stage in his career. Against Right Handers: Damon DH (Better OBP vs Righties than Pierre) Beckham Quentin konerko A. J. Rios Teahen Ramirez Pierre LF That still leaves a void of a power left handed bat in the middle of the lineup. That might be one reason to just leave Damon in the clean up spot, although he is not your prototypical clean up hitter. Moreover, both lineups leave Jones out of the equation entirely, and that may not be realistic

The Twins' lineup is as overweighted with left handed hitters as ours is right handed. It's a good thing we have two tough southpaw starters, although I'd rather have Peavy on the mound vs any team. It's too bad that we would never trade with a division rival. We could use one of those left handed bats!!

Whatever happened to the last two Cuban defectors? Yasser Gomez and Yadel Marti were never signed by any MLB team. I can't find any recent news on the Net.

Rios should be in CF. His offensive production is questionable and not up to the level of a corner outfielder. This team needs a bigger bat for the remaining outfield position. I'd prefer to see Jones in RF with Quentin in left and Rios is CF. Rios and Jones provide a better offensive and defensive combination than Gardner and Rios. Of course that still doesn't provide a prototypical lead off guy, but Rios might perform better in that role than the higher pressure run producer role. Let Rios lead off. He has a very good success rate stealing bases. That would leave a left handed DH. as the only remaining offensive hole to fill. I think De Aza already fills the role of a fourth outfielder for speed and defense. He and Gardner are similar players and he's actually a year younger than Gardner. Gardner probably has a better eye at the plate but De Aza probably has a better arm.

No thank you. This guy is not only a cancer in the clubhouse, but he is not the kind of player and person for whom I want to cheer. Perhaps, if the Cubs paid all of his salary so that we could simply release him if he caused problems. But that won't happen because if the Cubs were willing to do that, they would just release him.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Sep 20, 2009 -> 06:27 AM) The Pen needs a complete makeover. How KW will do it, im not sure? Boston seems to have the perfect recipe every year bringing in new arms that can get the job done. KW hopefully will take a few pages out of Theo's notebook. Guys from 2009 that will be back: Thorton and Liney. Nobody will take on Liney's contract and im sure Peavy will have a long talk with KW about how he wants his boy to stay with the team. Thorton is solid once again- he may be a good option as our new closer pending on what KW decides to do with Jenks. That loss vs Seattle really hurt and that really showed me that Jenks doesn't have what he used to have. The time is now to ship him off, bring in some young talented arms or a leadoff hitter. Carrasco will be back as well, and perhaps with a greater role.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Sep 18, 2009 -> 12:05 PM) We're hardly 5.5 games back and we have six more games against the division leading team. Let's not give up, and say we did. Well, if we were playing over .500 ball, and didn't have two teams in front of us, I might agree with you. Moreover, it's 6.5 games, and 7 in the loss column.

This is a .500 team, at best, and has a lot of questions regarding next season. It seems to me that it's now time to play the remainder of the season with an emphasis upon resolving some of those issues. Therefore I hope the Sox will do the following: 1) Shut Gavin down. Playing with that hip could cause him to alter his motion and damage his arm. 2) Shut Peavy down. He is a very competitive guy and is probably pushing himself to get ready for what was thought to be a realistic playoff run. It now seems foolish to risk a premature return. Let the elbow heal completely, and make sure that his legs are really strong enough to pitch without unnecessary strain on his arm. 3) Give most of the catching duties to Flowers. Castro will likely not be brought back, and Flowers could be A. J.'s backup next year. Let's see if he can handle that role, and give him a chance to get some Major League at bats. I would actually prefer to see him catch most of the remaining games, and DH the rest. Flowers and A. J. could alternate catching and DH duties. This is not intended as a slight of A.J. I love him. It's just that I'd like to see Flowers get some valuable experience. 4) Start, and or relieve Hudson and Torres. Perhaps at least one of them can fill a bullpen spot next year. 5) Jhonny Nunez should be used as often as possible instead of Dotel and Lindbrink. He could be another important piece in the Pen. 6) Give Carrasco some later inning work to see if he could take over Dotel's spot. Octavio's contract will be expiring, and it would help to know if they have other options. 7) Matt Thornton should close the rest of the way. Let's see if he could replace Bobby. It will be a difficult decision to pay Jenks the kind of money that he will likely get in arbitration. You have to think that Jenks gives Kenny and Ozzie the same uneasy feeling he now gives us, every time he comes in with the game on the line. 8) In deference to Dye, let him play if he wants to. He may want to play as he will be signing a new contract with someone. Otherwise, shut him down, and let Kotsay get some more playing time in RF. Kotsay may end up being an important piece for next year, so it wouldn't hurt to get him some more at bats. Unfortunately the Sox really don't have any young outfield prospects on the roster whom they could play. 9) If they want to consider moving Alexei, it could be worthwhile to see if Beckham is a Major League SS. I know that management insists that Gordon is their third baseman of the future, but I still drool over the prospects of having him be an All Star shortstop. His bat is much more impressive as a shortstop. There are lots of good hitting thirdbasemen. That would also open up third to C. J. Retherford. I'm just not sold on Alexei defensively, although admittedly, I was sure that he would be just terrific at SS. What a disappointment! 10) Let's see if Tony Pena could handle the set up role. I doubt it, but if Thornton closes and the Sox don't bring back Dotel or Jenks, they may need him there. Does anyone have any other ideas for this scenario of playing the rest of the season for next year? Or, of course, some of you would probably like to debate whether it makes sense to do this. I'm not saying that they have to stop playing hard. I'd just prefer to see some other players giving their best effort, instead of some of the guys who won't, or shouldn't be back next year.

This entire Rios issue may be even bigger than suggested in this thread. I'm sure that K.W. expected him to turn his subpar season around after getting a fresh start in a new city. Unfortunately, not only has that not happened, but he has completely fallen on his face. This not only has likely killed our chances for post season this year, but it brings into question a few other major concerns for next year. If he could have been expected to produce like his career numbers, he would have filled a couple of holes for the Sox. Obviously, he solves the defensive problem in CF. Moreover, he allows Pods to move to left, where Scotty is not a liability. Additionally, Rios would have provided more speed, another stolen base threat, and lots of extra basehits. His production over his previous 3 seasons averages 44 doubles, 7 triples and 24 stolens bases over a full 162 game campaign. That production coupled with his near .300 average could provide another solid offensive player at the top of the order, perhaps even in the number two hole. That would allow Beckham to bat a little deeper into the heart of the order. A productive Rios would have eliminated the need for K. W. to consider acquiring Figgins. He could have tried to sign Abreu this off season, and the offense would have been set. With a lineup of Pods, a productive Rios, Quentin, Abreu, Beckham, Konerko, A. J., Ramirez and Getz (Nix) this team would have a great balance of speed, power, decent average and even acceptable OBP. However, if Rios is going to be an offensive bust, this team will face a lot of challenges to get ready for next year. The way he has been hitting, he is a number 9 hitter. That in turn means Beckham probably has to stay at the second spot in the lineup. That further means that they will be a little short on power. Adding only Abreu would not provide enough offense to replace both Dye and Thome. The Sox would need to consider other personnel changes, and likely a lot more money. I'll bet that Kenny is very upset, and a little worried. It's one thing for us to calmly proclaim our confidence that Rios will get back on track next year. Unfortunately, Kenny doesn't have that luxury. Now he will have to consider other moves. Moreover Rios' huge contract will constrain any such other possibilities. What a shame. Rios could really have solved a lot of problems, but so far this looks like a big mistake, which also has to weigh heavily on our GM. It certainly isn't his fault, and I hope that fans will place the blame squarely where it belongs if Rios fails to produce.

In rethinking what I just posted about the lineup protection afforded Figgins on the Angels, actually a deep lineup could argurably work against a hitter's OBP, because pitchers are more likely to go after hitters who are not big RBI producers. Therefore it could be harder to draw walks. Nevertheless, I just have a feeling that somehow he wouldn't put up the same numbers in our lineup.

Just to add a point about Figgins, in case it hasn't been mentioned: We're dreaming if we think that he would ever put up a .400 OBP on the Sox. He is very well protected in that Angels' lineup, but he would not enjoy the same protection with us. I wouldn't expect him to produce much better than Pods has in our lineup. If that's true, he wouldn't be worth the extra money.

Funny how you guys were speculating about what would happen on this board the first time he dropped a routine fly ball. That didn't take long. I am really getting worried about this guy. His season wasn't going that well before he came to the Sox, and now it is spiraling down at a very alarming rate. He doesn't even have decent at bats. Don't you think that there must be something wrong with him? Maybe they should start by giving him another complete physical, including a thorough eye exam. If he passes both of those, maybe they should have him see a Psychiatrist.

The question that keeps nagging me is; could he have been on PEDS during those stellar years? He's still very young, so he can't be slowing down, and he hasn't been hampered by injuries. So, what has happened to him? If he took something when PEDS were so prevelant, he certainly would have stopped after getting the security of that contract, especially with all of the negative publicity over steroids. That might explain the dramatic fall off. Let's hope that there is another explanation, and that the problem can be corrected. If not, the Sox are going to really be hurt by both the bad contract, as well as the realization that they still have not solved the long standing problem of finding a good defensive Centerfielder who can add significant offensive production. If they are going to have to accept nothing but defense at that position, they could have just kept B. A. and saved themselves a lot of money. I'm very worried about this problem.

This little article recalling Hunt's high schoold days is kind of interesting: http://patton.blogs.gatorsports.com/10010/...iss-tyler-holt/

I've been thinking the same thing, and already have my favorite candidate: http://www.seminoles.com/sports/m-basebl/s.../061109aab.html Holt is only 20, and I don't know if he will decide to go pro before completing college, but if he does, the Sox might have a good chance to get him if they end up with around a number 15 pick. I saw one source that had him listed as the 8th best college player in next year's draft. If you add in the high school players, I guess he should be about a middle of the first round pick.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 08:18 AM) As of late he's been absent minded in the outfield, too. And I'm not talking about his mediocre defense, I'm talking about his recent string of botching EASY plays. Take the Angels game for example, the line drive he put his glove up and just missed...only it took him a few seconds to realize he missed it...he needs a rest because it's getting worse and worse and that wasn't the first time in the last few weeks I witnessed him do something like that. I too have been wondering if there might be something wrong with J. D. There was another recent game where he thought that there were 2 outs, and started to jog in with the ball, after making the catch. Meanwhile, the base runner tagged up and advanced easily.

The whole point of keeping Thome over Dye would be to retain the services of left handed bat. It is very interesting and revealing to note that this year, Dye's stats are comparable to Thome's vs. right handed pitching!! J. Dye Avg. .278 OBP .345 SLG .527 HR 19 2B 11 RBI 49 Thome Avg .256 OBP .392 SLG .512 HR 16 2B 7 RBI 47 That pretty much refutes the one advantage of retaining Thome over Dye. I think it should be a matter of the money. If Dye will take less than the amount specified in the option, and if it is less than what it would cost to retain Thome, I personally prefer Dye.