Gregory Pratt

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Aug 26, 2007 -> 10:44 PM) One bad outing and the flood gates open up for Vazquez, yet we can't trade Jon Garland because he's one of the best starters in the league. Where is the ripping on of Garland? Pratt has, but if you are going to say Vazquez blows up for a good portion of the season, you have to include Garland. ERA of like 6 or 7 since the ASB and an ERA of like 6.50 in the first two months of last season. I don't know about you, but I'll gladly take a pitcher with a 3.89 ERA who got roughed up by one of the best offenses in baseball, instead of tearing into him for his first bad outing in like 2 months. 7 ER in 6 innings is his worst outing of the year...I wonder how other Sox starters stack up to that...? I think Vazquez is a very good 3/4 pitcher, nothing more, strikeouts be damned. I expect his ERA to wind up higher than it is and higher next year than it is for sure. That said, he's a good guy to have, as above-average and even average-innings are extremely valuable, but either he or Garland can be dealt and I'd have no issue with it, especially if we can get them to overpay but nobody's going to overpay for either because KW doesn't know how to force people to overpay and besides that, the time to make people overpay was when Jon Garland was coming off a great and good season with some years left on his contract and not now.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 26, 2007 -> 11:07 PM) Ozzie embarassed himself by saying that even though we got swept this wknd, we did sweep them "when it counted" in 2005. It's that type of living in the past attitude which is killing this organization. Our inability to scout, draft and develop is killing this organization; our inability to play at a Major League Level with Major League Players is killing this team; our owner and general manager are killing me.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 26, 2007 -> 09:38 PM) Ah, the old W-L argument with pitchers. A fantastic way to tell you the capability of a pitcher... Better than ignoring his ERA over the years and W/L totals in favor of what computers project he SHOULD be at based on his strikeouts and groundball/flyball ratio.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 26, 2007 -> 09:35 PM) I was thinking of how typical Vazquez's game was, according to you. He looks great, but the results just aren't there too often. You, me and DA are in complete agreement about Javier Vazquez. Good for him, having an alright season and year 1/2 since last year's ASB, but he isn't THAT good, and I definitely don't count him as a lock to do what he's done this year next year. He's a valuable enough guy, but he is more a three or four than a one or two, genuinely electric stuff be slammed over the wall.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Aug 26, 2007 -> 08:31 PM) My expectations of Williams this winter is to assemble a trade package in which, two years from now, journalists of the opposing team are writing articles suggesting the deal is "haunting" them. That's just the position he put himself in. He better not fail, for his sake and the success of his franchise. I wonder if you're just being rhetorical, because you've spoken about how Garland needs to go and KW needs to do whatever or we need to draft whatnot and "KW better not fail," and he always does by your standards and mine, but you seem to cut him more slack.

Interesting that they've got Andruw Jones staying with Atlanta. I'm not sure it'd be the smart thing to do, considering his numbers this year and the price he'll command, but he's as good a bet as any to rebound next year and I imagine the Braves will know what is wrong with him this year, EXACTLY, and whether or not that's permanent. I know Jones really loves Atlanta, Schuerholz and Cox, and that he took his contract into his own hands, telling Boras to shove off, a few years ago, so who knows? That aside, the moves they have us making don't really impress me at all.

I resign in protest of the players given me.

I can't wait to watch Crede pop up softly to the right side of the infield, hit .250 with no OBP and little power. I, of course, have little faith that Crede's back will be alright enough for him to put up solid numbers and be an active contributor but it's not my four million or roster spot wasted next year. I'm just glad we've got so many players in the minors waiting for people to get injured or leave via free agency so that they can come in and contribute.

What the hell is this bulls***? Gonzalez at third? Have we sunk this low, that a scrub who should be in AA will be playing third base for us so that we might get a look at him for next year? For what?

Why was 2005 worth years and years of hypothetical mediocrity? I fully believe that you have five years after a title before you can complain about not having a title, but "once is enough for me" is not a winning attitude. The goal, and idea, should be that we can compete for a World Series title each and every year. More than that, the organization should make decisions that would facilitate such competitiveness each and every year.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Aug 25, 2007 -> 01:11 AM) Have they not noticed he is like 60 years old and done? Jose Contreras is not done.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Aug 24, 2007 -> 11:02 PM) Pratt's dislocated shoulders and f***ed up legs wouldn't even dare to endure a life as a catcher. He'd make Pods' arm look like Vlads compared to his own. I wish I still threw hard.

I'm in.

Calling Doctor Egbert plz, AAA

QUOTE(spiderman @ Aug 24, 2007 -> 08:08 PM) Doesn't signing T.Hunter/A.Rowand mean that Joe Crede won't be offered a contract for next season ? Correct me if I'm mistaken, but if they sign one of these guys to play CF, wouldn't Owens move to LF, and Fields would stay at 3B for next season ? I wish!

Hawk and DJ are awful together. I don't know why it's really struck me tonight, but it has.

Hope you're not complaining, Tony. You do know, of course, about the many possibilities now open to you and your girlfriend in the dark?

I really don't like Soxman. His gimmick has gotten old and his MySpace bulletins suck.

S'not afraid to say goodbye.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 24, 2007 -> 04:06 PM) Someone please shove a sock in Farmer's mouth.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Aug 24, 2007 -> 02:38 PM) Beckett may get through seven. Yeah, and after that first inning, that's a joke.

QUOTE(shoota @ Aug 24, 2007 -> 02:08 PM) When listing, use semi-colons instead of colons. I know. You can see my political blog for that, as when I list like that, I use semi-colons but for some reason, I didn't this time. It was a real reason to me at the time, rather than an oversight, but I don't remember why.

Yeah, but this conversation is over as I'm going out soon and nobody believed that Thome-Dye-Crede would've gone from hitting 100+ homers together to hitting 70-80 or so this year, if they were lucky, amongst many other things and nobody could've predicted that Garland isn't as good as his numbers had been -- after all, he was on a win list with Roy Oswalt and Johan Santana, so how bad could he be?1?1?1?1

I call Bulls***. It wasn't uncharacteristic -- it had been happening since last July! They were good, offensively, for half a season. QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 24, 2007 -> 02:10 PM) Pretty much a worthless discussion with all the geniuses on here who foresaw our massive offensive slump and the unraveling of the pen. I wish you guys would have told me about this before the season so I did renew my season tickets. I could have then not watched the team in the first few months and agonizing over the losses. I hope you guys can tell me about our record next year, because the suspense is killing me. You're pretending that nobody saw the offense having trouble and that the team needed changes or that nobody called for any of these moves before. You're not having an honest discussion because KW so smart, if he didn't see it, how could someone else have?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 24, 2007 -> 02:04 PM) Can you EVER post without mentioning the Atlanta Braves? Ever? I think you may be on the wrong message board. You still havent said why they should have dealt 4 significant players last offseason for us to compete. All you can say is Braves Braves braves, but still cannot put your finger on why THIS team should have done that in the AL Central. Dealing garland, Crede, Dye, and apparently your idea, Konerko, would have made this a 100 loss team before the season. I guess thats good for you, but for someone who spends money on season tickets and wanted to compete especially after two great years of baseball, that wouldnt have done it for me. I prefer winning. if you cannot reason without using hindsight, then you are just grasping at air. Well, if you want to complain about harping, I'd complain that you've never said anything critical about management and every move is the right move and KW is so goooooo When did I say Konerko? He'd probably stay, but I'd have definitely made inquiries all over. Why should we have dealt four significant players? Jesus Christ. 1. Garland isn't so good and can be replaced. You maximize his value while it's at maximum value, before he goes back to normal and set yourself up for the future, and hopefully for now, too, with a package. 2. Crede could've been replaced by Fields and shouldn't have been counted on to reproduce his numbers. You pick up Figgins and Willits, perhaps, or just one and someone else, and you've got a new leadoff hitter and a replacement for him is there in Fields. Why keep him? Oh, right, so we can hope that he's "broken out" 3. Dye -- you set yourself up for the future, hopefully, or if you can find a guy who is young and can put up good numbers. Crede and Dye had monster, two standard deviation from the mean type years. Counting on that again? Pffft. Get rid of them and set yourself up for much success. Add some speed to your lineup and some youth. It isn't all that complicated. I don't care how much the season ticket holders howl or people dislike it, because the truth is that none of those guys really should've been held onto, though I know I'm in the minority with regard to drastically retooling that lineup. Wonder why, though, considering how bad they were and have been since the second half last year. Oh, right. Hoping for veterans and injured players to get gooooooooooo again