Gregory Pratt

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 04:50 PM) Interesting post and thank you for doing all that digging. There are two sides to it as you've identified. It is easy to say "throw money at it" and hope the guy you throw money at pans out bigtime. More often than not as you've identified these kids don't pan out for whatever reason. However I will state that the White Sox need, in my opinion, to take more risks and be more aggressive. That includes dealing with an agent they hate (from time to time anyways), and identifying and signing int'l talent. Williams has gone on record as saying the Sox need to inject the system with more potential high impact players. Guillen has stated they need to sign 10-12 players on the int'l market and play the odds vs. just spending a bundle on one guy. Here is the key though on the int'l market, it's not just a matter of throwing the most $$ at these 16 yr. old Dominican and Venezuelan kids. It's a matter of the scouts developing positive relationships with the right contacts, the families of these prospects, their coaches. Believe it, this is a major factor in the Latin American market. I'm not sure what (how many) scouts the Sox have down there but I aim to find out. You won't sign everybody but you need to compete aggressively and I'm not convinced they're going to the wall in this area. As for the draft, we can comment on past results but things just got a big shake up and I believe there will be more fallout this winter (some new scouts being brought in) so unfortunately we are in a wait and see mode for 2008 and beyond. On this Boras thing. Boras Corp. is highly aggressive in landing these kids for representation. They cannot shut off this avenue of talent. But as someone here identified Reinsdorf is tight with the commissioner and roughly 24-25 teams held to slot bonuses, 5-6 didn't. The White Sox are one of the 24-25 and frankly I don't see that changing. If that's the case then they need to do better in the int'l market or they need to target players from other organizations as Williams has been doing. No matter what, there is not an easy answer. Latin America is the answer. Unfortunately, we don't seem to have much of a presence or make much of an effort. Atlanta, Seattle and the Dodgers are good down there. We need to catch up.

Doubt he'll get it this year.

I sure am glad he's going to get off easy.

Kenny's not good at dealing veterans, prospects are the new gold and Jonny Hollywood's peak value was last offseason or this break, so whatever he gets will probably be less than he could've if he had a single clue what "sell high" means.

Peavy is a distinct possibility. But there is zero chance that the White Sox go after him or have what it takes to get him.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 01:52 PM) They are - only to b****. (not in green). I am very much interested in the future, in b****ing and in praising, thank you very much.

Yeah, that's all plausible and makes sense. Nobody's denying that the NL is a much better place to pitch in. But let's not pretend that Jon Garland would go from league averageish to Brandon Webb and that teams are going to be chomping at the bits for him.

Because it'd never happen. No use getting your mouth watering for meat you'll never eat.

WIDGER

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 08:29 AM) Really bad pitch calling. He needed to rare back and blow him away after he fouled off two hanging breaking balls. Oh well nice save. When is the pitch-calling ever good?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 12:33 PM) Good. And don't be sorry about posting that stuff. Some of us are actually curious about the future (those of us who haven't already divined a 100-loss season in 2008). Yeah, the negative people on this site aren't curious about the future.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 11:28 AM) It's also possible that Maddux just didn't want to play in the fish bowl of New York. A lot of players don't want to play for the Yankees. Griffey turned down a trade to them years ago.... and got death threats from rabid Yankees fans because of it. That's possible, but as far as I remember, the deal was pretty close and then Atlanta came in and wooed him.

I do. I'd be just as thrilled if he wound up with the Braves, though.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 08:58 AM) Why did Greg Maddux refuse to leave the NL then when offered $10M to do so? Ted Lilly stated it as well when asked about the differences in the two leagues. I think the biggest difference is not in the numbers but in the psyche of the pitcher's mindset. I personally think it is harder to go through an AL line-up as compared to an NL line-up. For the last two years arguably the best four and 8 of the top 10 teams played in the AL. I don't believe Maddux turned down ten million from the Yankees for 5,800,000. That's not Boras' MO. Maybe he did overrule Scott, but I doubt that. I'm not sure what the Yankees offered him, but I do know that the Braves entered the Maddux derby late, wooed him, talked to him about their rotation and its potential, sold him on the city, etc. etc., and then he joined. But if you're implying that Greg Maddux would've sucked in the NL or been half the man he was with the Cubs/Braves...well, you're something! Because Greg Maddux is a top ten pitcher of all time, NL or not. I, for one, don't live in a world where ERAs rise significantly for everyone and as far as I can tell, they don't rise quite like that for everyone. Surely, the NL is a weaker league for obvious reasons and always will be, but it's insane to pretend that good pitchers aren't at the same level in the AL or that great pitchers wouldn't be.

Roger Clemens, too. And you know who says hi back? Barry Zito. Plenty of other guys, too, I'm sure. I don't believe that Garland's going to go from average to ACE because of the AL-NL. HE'S ALREADY AN ACE! I was under the impression, too, that the typical AL-NL translation was much less than a run per game, but maybe I'm awfully wrong.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 08:39 AM) There are not that many average pitchers out there and an average pitcher makes $10M a season. The Jason Jennings comparison is pretty solid although I think Garland's pitching in the AL makes him a little better. Every pithcher's arm is sore all season. Garland blames his poor performances on it that is the difference. He would bring back a pretty nice package in return. Last offseason Hunter Pence was the deal breaker. To guage the value of Garland's worth start with the fact he has never missed a start and he throws about 200 innings. The prospect NOT THE REALITY of this scenario got Gil Meche a really nice deal. Garland in the NL wold be very successful. AL-NL conversions are overstated.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 04:41 AM) Why expect it?! This is a concept I've never understood. A large percentage of our fans are completely passive concerning this issue. Why should Kansas City, Pittsburgh, or Tampa Bay fans expect a championship? They don't do it well, right? If our fans have expectations of the White Sox to be the best team in baseball, why can't this sentiment transfer itself to player development? Management from Williams on down should strive to not only have a championship calibur ballclub, but a minor league system capable of producing replacement level players. Andy Gonzalez and Jerry Owens just won't cut it. Personally, and I don't believe I'm alone here, I expect more from this organization. Everyone should be aboard and hold player development to the same elevated standards they have towards the major league team. What do we have to show for the last two years of scouting other teams minor league systems and selling players at the right time? Danny Richar? Maybe. Nick "Tick Below Jenks" Masset and Gavin "Arizona Fall League" Floyd don't do much for me. I probably wouldn't have cared as much if it weren't for Williams proudly raving on the talent both possessed. As of now, either appear major league ready, and as a result, Williams looks foolish. Any benefit we've had recently from obtaining other teams prospects is minimal and overstated because of Jenks. Until we have a deal comparable to that of which Minnesota received for Pierzynski, or Cleveland for Bartolo Colon (ie, franchise changing trades), then I'm not going to give Williams much credit for receiving Gonzalez and Danks in what's beginning to look more and more like one-for-one deals. I credit him for dealing McCarthy, but not for only one player worth a damn. Championships won't be won with small steps such as those. More contributing players need to return in trades if, according to you, our draft success is poor and that's just the way it is. In addition, if they truly knew the best oportunity to trade players Garland would have been traded last month. We're going to go through the same issues with his contract extension as what occured with Buehrle, and -- judging from his post ASB performance -- there's a chance we're not going to receive much for him if he doesn't rebound soon. Why didn't they see this coming? I wasn't the only one on Soxtalk practically begging Garland to be traded for positional prospects. Or how about Crede? He should have been traded with lingering back issues and Fields in the wing, correct? Because they were dangling him to Anaheim suggests to me the thought atleast entered their minds. It wasn't as if it was an impossible turn of events to predict. Certaintly more predictable than McCarthy breaking down. Why not? Why can't we be the Twins? This is exactly the problem I have with comments such as yours. We're so willing to emulate the Twins on the field with their philosophy of "playing the game right" and having "grinders," yet we're not willing to match the Twins and their success from within? It's just strange to me how you show absolutely no faith in the system, yet provide no criticism of Williams or anyone else. Almost as if you're virtually shrugging your shoulders. Even if you're more confident in him extracting talent from other clubs, shouldn't it be a priority of a contending ballclub to have their own draft picks succeed? Our ways of acquiring talent is really more limited than people think. -Boras re: draft/FA -Don't select players overslot -Don't have much success developing players on national or international level -Never can be expected to outbid anyone for a high profile player -Nature of market has made finding low-key FA's with high potential less and less likely -Few players on the team hold significant trade value -Fewer players on the team with value are expendable because of someone in the minors ready to replace them. Of course, the one scenario this could have benefited us was with backless Crede and Josh Fields. Only seems fitting Crede undergoes surgery. I don't know about you, but I believe one of these is the easiest to change. That's option #3. To hear people dismiss it is the equivalent, in my mind, of accepting failure. I believe Shaffer's firing two months ago suggests Williams doesn't take such failures very lightly. Or that he was looking for a fall-guy.

HAPPY HAPPY!

Well, he won't wind up in Chicago, I'm pretty sure of that. I think there's a great chance the Braves go after him because of where he's from, how much Schuerholz loves "The Rotation" ("the Rotation is dead, long live the Rotation!"), because of their new ownership and because they'll definitely have the talent to deal for him if they wish. My wet dream is for Atlanta to wind up with Santana and Peavy in two years but that won't happen. However, Peavy + Atlanta is almost a match made in heaven.

You're fooling yourself if you think a rent-a-pitcher who is open about a "knot" in his shoulder, who has been averageish for years except two, who has had a bad year will command "a lot".

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Aug 20, 2007 -> 10:01 PM) It's kinda retarded to pay any attention to OPS for a speedster leadoff guy like Owens (Pierre, Pods, Figgins etc). My understanding is that there are stats out there (though I haven't seen them) which incorporate steals (and caught stealings) into the Total Bases number when calculating what would be the SLG component of OPS. Owens has 3 singles and 2 SBs tonight. That's just as good as a single and two doubles and an approximate stat to OPS needs to incorporate that for a base stealer. Uh, Owens is still bad if you take that into consideration.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 20, 2007 -> 10:44 PM) I'd have dealt Jon at the deadline for a lot and I'd do the same over the off-season. All that said I still have tons of faith in Jon but you can see right now he's not quite right. He still isn't close to being as bad as Jose has been, although he has had a handful of hideous starts the past 4 weeks or so. How exactly would you deal him for "a lot"? He'll be a rent-a-pitcher coming off a rough year with talk of a "knot" in the last two years?

Is Gallardo going to be up for the rest of the season?

IS THIS BOBBY'S BRAD LIDGE MOMENT?! He'll be okay.

"GIT FOUL, HIT WILLLLLL" pause "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERCY!!!!!!!"