Gregory Pratt

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 28, 2007 -> 02:57 PM) I don't know that the Sox have been so successful under KW. He did win , I'll give him that, but for the majority of the time he's been the GM the division has been weak. KC and Det. were absolutely atrocious, Cleveland rebuilt. Minnesota has turned over their roster. In the six years he didn't win a championship or division or wild card, KW's teams are a combined 9 games over .500. Considering the unbalanced schedule, its not so impressive, at least to the degree where you can say without a doubt that KW is the smartest GM around. This is a great post. And it's not coming from one of the "younger" posters. I mean, I'm not calling you old homie, I'm just sayin' that choo are a grown ass man and so you obviously aren't being crazy and young. But really, he's been oh-so-successful and we've been "in the hunt!" QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Aug 28, 2007 -> 05:16 PM) If someone HAD to be fired...I think it should be Walker. Only because the hitters haven't had hardly ANY success the last year and a half. Except for Dye last year and well, no one this year. But, I don't think he will be fired...he'll be re-assigned. And 101...let's not go there, buddy. Schuerholz is one of the best in the game...he won 15 division titles in a row. How many rings with the Braves??? One. And I bet you can ask every single Braves fan that if they could either have 15 in a row or that one ring in the 90's, I think most would say the ring. And I would as well. As I said in another thread...I like Kenny because he takes a risk...sometimes it backfires, obviously. Sometimes it doesn't, 2005. But, he's not afraid to pull the trigger and take the heat, even if he gets testy about it. Schuerholz has little respect for the people who blame him for the Braves not winning more World Series rings. He doesn't make too many excuses for it, and says that he believes they lost a few they should've won, but believes that the current playoff structure is a bit of a crapshoot and has issues with it because of the nature of the tournament. He mocks sportswriters, especially, for it by saying "I wish I were smart enough to construct a Wild Card team." And he says that he really, really wants to win another WS so that "these negative observers who don't truly understand baseball would be stopped from continuing to refer to the 'postseason flameouts' of the Braves." Just an FYI. I'm not saying that you don't know anything about baseball and I'm not trying to be a jerk. That's just what he says. And by the way, you wouldn't have to ask Braves fans "What do you prefer? A ring or all these division titles?" because it was both. And they made the World Series through most of the Nineties. In good divisions and bad, at a time when the NL was typically pretty good. When a team one the WS who'd come from their division but weren't good enough to be anywhere near his team in the regular season. In two divisions and three. All from the division. And they came oh-so-close so many times. We live in a world that prefers the 85 Bears for winning it all and gives no credit to the Buffalo Bills for making it four straight times. That's why Mike Ditka and Kenny Williams are more valued than, say, John Schuerholz and Bill Belichick. The truth is that KW isn't even a top-ten GM and he might be an upper bottom fifteen GM. I think DA brings up great points about him. Me? I'm not impressed by his being able to break, for one season with a variety of breaks and reasons, the 87 year drought, as he doesn't do anything particularly well, IMO, but we all know how I feel about Kenny.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Aug 26, 2007 -> 11:45 AM) After listening to the suspended brothers story on the radio its hard to gage if hes telling the truth or not but IMHO if one of them is juicing or has at least then I bet they both are or have. Very similar to Thomas Jones and his buddy David Boston. I concur.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 09:43 PM) You're conveniently ignoring a few solid years in Montreal where he was one of the few bright spots on a bad team. Heck, he posted a 3.24 ERA in 230 innings in 2003 and only won 13 games. It's not like he's your typical one-year fluke starter that's getting lucky with mediocre stuff and stranding a lot of runners. There's a very good chance he continues to do well for the near future, as it's clear that his control has been better the last year or so after tweaking his delivery a bit. While it'd be really nice to have Young back, Vazquez is their 2nd best starter right now and is locked up for a while. He's definitely talented, but I'm just being critical of certain things that have been said in this thread and such.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 09:33 PM) Patterson = Boras, however Patterson = BAD

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 09:20 PM) Yeah, he was there for one season (not counting the Montreal stufff). I know you're not a DIPS guy but I would contend that Vazquez was pretty unlucky in Arizona -- his K/BB ratio was better than 4-to-1. Also, I thought I remember seeing a stat that Vazquez HR/FB ratio was significantly higher than the average. Well if you prefer his computer-generated statistics to what he's done through his career, feel free. I was just pointing out that he wasn't so hot in the NL and I still contend that this year is more an aberration and a worse pitcher is underneath his 2007. He's not a bad pitcher, but he's not a genuine one or two. He'll never be one. Good season this year? Sure. Has he been good since last August? Absolutely. But still, I don't believe he'll be what he is again next year, and it's up to him to go out there and succeed. He won't have Bill James' computers on the mound with him.

Anybody can apologize for what they've done. Anybody can read what their publicists wrote for them, or remember the basic gist. Even if he means it, it'll be a cold day in hell before I cheer for him again. I'm not going to forgive him. I don't forgive monsters because they say they're sorry when Beowulf clubs them in the head. Dude wants to say sorry and look for redemption? He can live the rest of his life pretending to be a good man and if God dubs him a good man, he can forgive him. I have no intention to say, "Oh, he said he's sorry!" and leave it at that. He's got a long way to go to redeem himself in my eyes, and no, a check to an animal welfare group won't cut it.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 09:05 PM) On top of that, I challenge anyone to find me a FA pitcher on the market this year, better than Vazquez, for any cost.... Bartolo Colon!

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 09:00 PM) Really? Now I think you're stretching things a bit. Even after Vazquez' last start, he still ranks 22nd in baseball in Pitcher VORP. What pitcher could you get for ~$10 million a season that would be a top 25 pitcher in all of baseball? I'd even take that further and argue Vazquez is better than several of the pitchers ahead of him -- what would Javier Vazquez be doing if he was pitching in the PETCO? Or even just in the NL? If Vazquez happens to pitch like he has this year over the life of the contract, there's only a handful of pitchers who I'd rather have over him. What the hell kind of question is that (boldened)? He's been in the NL before and we've seen what he's done.

Moose is having an awful stretch, but can someone explain to me why he should be pulled from the rotation? Do you mean for good? Is his velocity and all that down or something?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 08:08 PM) I'm not sure why people think there won't be, there will. These guys know it's been a disaster and they won't sit still. They tried to make some moves at the deadline and I'm not talking about Dye. Dye was a guy they were willing to move but only at a certain price, that's because they were pretty sure they could re-sign him, and they did. Not only will there be personnel moves but you will also see some player development shuffling and in my opinion a few people brought in from outside the organization. I hope so! But I don't expect it, per se. I hope for it, I want it, but ever since the Administration brought back Podsednik, I know I can't count on them to do the obvious thing. I can't wait until we sign Carl Everett to spell Thome at DH.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 08:50 AM) The newly elected President would be able to assign their own Attorney General, and Chertoff would likely just be keeping the seat warm, right? I didn't read through EVERYTHING, but I didn't see this replied to. Yes, the next President replaces everyone in the Cabinet unless he wishes to ask them to stay, and even that's unlikely as people don't like to work like that. So Chertoff is gone after Bush is gone for sure. QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 05:24 PM) SINISTER! SCANDAL! THEY HATE AMERIKKKA! BUSH IS HITLER!!!!! *sigh* (had to throw in the last one for the point, because it's right at the same point) QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 03:45 PM) Wow. You have to be joking to say Aldimbulb isn't (wasn't) a political hack. She was just about the worst one in Mrs. Clinton's cabinent. QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 04:55 PM) "Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House," said the Nevada Democrat. I f***ing HATE Harry Reid. What a f***tard. I'm glad you're being thorough and insightful with your analysis. With all the bombs being thrown by the Democrats here, you truly had to "go there" to make sure your points weren't drowned out by Josef Stalin's Gestapo Kremlin Gang. Seriously. I don't think I've ever read a political post of yours that didn't make me think of someone like, say, Michael Savage or Rush Limbaugh. Politics sure bring out the worst in people, IMO, where they take these super hostile stances and shout things out instead of ever conceding anything. I know that the political strategists -- the good ones -- say, Hold no weapon back and Concede Nothing (Ted Williams mantra), but this is crazy. "Albidumb" and "f***tard" and "Mrs. Clinton" and "Hitler" -- oh my!

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 07:34 PM) These numbers being thrown around for Hunter are scary. I'm definitely getting into DA's corner that KW will say we made an effort, but the number was too high. We'll probably sign Patterson for 3 yrs, 15 million. Sweet Jesus.

If I ever try to kill myself, it'll be because Rosie O'Donnell came out.

I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuv Lance Briggs

Uh, Konerko's slam is greater than 2 and 3, for sure.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 06:08 PM) The sad part about us missing this number this year...we were tied with the longest streak in history doing so...with the NY Yankees of exactly the same period, and now the Yankees are all but certain to hold that record alone. I think that "record" is stupid, especially with us. We brought in a ton of one-dimensional hitters and built a team that only does one offensive thing right over the years.

Sweeney really nailed him. That's my personal favorite baseball fight.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 05:59 PM) There really is a solid possibility that Renteria will be available this offseason, as the Braves to seem to have a replacement waiting and only 1 year left on ERent's deal. That said...if they're looking for Jon Garland for him, they won't get it from me, given that I think you have to value pitching significantly above position players. Schuerholz will want Javy, IMO, as he's always liked him and going into the offseason, now that Garland has really reverted, and given that they'll be more interested in a really solid pitcher instead of an innings-eating third fourth starter who can be a little better sometimes. Some people were tossing around Escobar+Jo Jo Reyes for either of these guys. I told them, "No, I don't think so," over on Talking Chop but it could be a start. I personally really like Lillibridge, but who knows what'll happen. One of Lillibridge, Renteria and Escobar will go.

I don't know how to feel about this. Would I be surprised that our players haven't been properly informed of the other pitcher's repoitoires? No. But I don't want to put Walker down like that. I doubt he's just sitting there stealing money and not doing anything. I don't think dude's a good hitting coach and he wasn't a good hitter, either, and you can look at who he struggled with as a hitter and who our guys struggle with you and you might draw some conclusions. But no, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't properly inform our players. But then again, Pierzynski's the guy who allegedly played cards and showed up late (or not at all) to a pitcher's meeting, so who knows? For Pierzynski to pop off about how he didn't know that Delcarmen threw a cut fastball sounds b****y and unnecessary, especially in the dugout. And I don't tend to give AJ the benefit of the doubt on anything like that. So who knows who's right and not.

QUOTE(knightni @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 04:04 AM) Throwing 15 mil a year at Hunter is foolish. Especially at his age. I think I agree.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 01:43 AM) Sooooo if they know exactly what's wrong with him, why wouldn't they change it? It's not like his .220/.315/.430/.745 line is going to keep him from getting a monster deal thanks to Boras, so why wouldn't they have changed what he's doing already? I think you are giving them a bit too much credit here dude. If I recall correctly, Jones has had lingering injuries this year, which is one of many things that could play a part in why he's been so bad this year. There are a million different possibilities but I'm sure the Atlanta Braves know why he's doing so bad and so will whatever team that winds up signing him. I haven't gotten to watch Jones enough this year to know, but from what I've been told it's a mix of attitude, wanting to put everything into the outfield seats, lingering injury, and a modification in his batting stance that he's started to abandon.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 05:14 PM) Yeah, it's not like he was a D-Bag in the mid 90's as a the brewers manager, challenging Hawk to a fist fight. Or as manager of the 2000 Tigers when the Sox and Pussies tangled twice in one day... Garner's always been a douchebag. To be fair, if he did challenge Hawk, he isn't a particularly likeable guy, IMO. I don't know him, but his on-air announcing is ridiculous, he seems disrespectful to DJ, is immature when the team is losing, and if the story is right, used to mock poor Wimpy for things no one should be mocked for. But yeah, Garner is not Now.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 27, 2007 -> 12:56 AM) I just don't know how you still are 100 pct behind Ozzie. I know you place the blame on KW for the lack of talent, which is fine. But the seemingly lack of motivation Ozzie is supplying this team is mind-blowing. Ever since the reports started about problems in the clubhouse a few months ago, things have gone from bad to horrible. Jerry Manuel was always criticized for his supposed lack of motivation, and he never, ever saw a stretch as bad as this. And for the record, I thought Manuel deserved to be fired when he was, as it was clear his players were turning him out. I'm very concerned that's happening with Ozzie. I couldn't believe my eyes with that Hinske shift or the Cuban Death March v. Boston. I have been very disappointed with Ozzie this year, but he is the least of them all. I will say this, though: if it ever becomes clear that Ozzie has been tuned out, he should be fired immediately, or the players should be (and you know what I mean: meaning: not literally). Some of me thinks that Ozzie simply needs a better team and he isn't trying so hard either. Some of me believes that this team has tuned him out, though a few sources say nonono! to that. Most of me believes that the problems are 95% roster construction, poor scouting and awful coaching. Assuming this team is upgraded next year, we'll see if that's true or not.