beautox

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jan 7, 2008 -> 09:45 AM) PK and Crede for Willits, Rodriguez, and Conger would be brutal. Willits solves our leadoff and CF question and he is an good defender. Rodriguez could solve our SS problem when OCab leaves if he produces in AAA, that would also allow for us to get 1-2 picks in the next draft. Conger, is highly thought of and is producing at A ball with this line last year as an 18 year old .290/.336/.472 808. He gives us a good posistion prospect behind the dish that could possibly step in near the end of AJP's contract.

QUOTE(IowaSoxFan @ Jan 7, 2008 -> 08:42 AM) If you are going to make a deal with the Angels it will likely be a PK and Crede for _____. OF Reggie Willits SS Sean Rodriguez C Hank Conger '08 line up CF Willits S SS Cabrera R 1B Swisher S DH Thome L RF Dye R 3B Fields R C AJP L LF Quentin R 2B Richar L

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 12:12 AM) I wouldn't bet the house. 60% of the rotation could blow up in our faces. It won't matter how good the offense hits if that happens. But at the same time the converse of that is true. Floyd could continue to develop and build off his performance at the end of the season and finish the year with an ERA just a hair north of 4.50 which I'm expecting from him. Or since he clearly has great "stuff" could pull it all together ala Fausto Carmona and mow down line ups and post a ERA and WHIP around 3.30 and 1.30. Danks now having gone through his first ML season should improve on his freshman performance. Lastly Jose was one of the most dominate pitchers for a very long stretch of time in '06 until he hurt his back, near the end of '07 he looked to have put it all together. There is an outside chance this team competes this year. KW has done a good job creating what looks to be a very exciting young ML core (Swisher, Fields, Quentin, Richar, Danks, Floyd, Jenks, Wasserman and Logan) And we still have Broadway and Egbert in the wings, whos repertoire look more conducive to pitching on the south side.

Its been a while since I've posted on the forum, glad to see others have picked up the Reggie Gene Willits banner in my absence. First off I love this deal. The sox have a chance to compete in '08 an outside chance but a chance none the less. Swisher is just what this team needs; a fresh face for this franchise. I hope Ozzie can get over himself and bat him leadoff and leave Ocab where he is comfortable in the 2 hole. I'd much rather have my leadoff hitter hit a double than get picked off attempting to steal second; but thats just me. As others have mentioned KW has revamped our young ML core, swisher will be here for the next 5 years. At least next year should be interesting to watch (Danks, Floyd, Swisher, Fields, Quentin, Richar) The sox need alot of the breaks to go their way if we look to compete.

Great news for 360 owners, i don't know if this has been posted, but MVP 2005 is now compatible with the 360; finally they've saved us from the horror that is the 2k series.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Nov 26, 2007 -> 05:31 PM) Ok I don't think at the moment Cabrera is still the best acquisition out there for us considering the price. Better to wait 2 years for him to hit FA and then make him a Manny Ramirez type of offer. But a guy I do want, and who I think would be a perfect fit for this team is Reggie Willits (beautsox #1's fav. player). He'll offer the OBP we need from a leadoff hitter, and we'd control him for about 5 seasons. Trading for him and sticking him in LF would still allow us to try and make a deal with Aaron Rowand for CF. An OF of Willits, Rowand and Dye sounds pretty decent to me. Now if he's dealt to Florida, would we be able to make a deal with them, or would our chances be better with dealing with the Angels and give them a nice prospect that they can then use in a Miggy deal?

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 20, 2007 -> 09:21 PM) I think the Rays would do a Baldelli deal. Especially if the Sox threw in a reliever. It is risky and the Sox would be taking on a potentially risky contract (or it could turn into a great contract). Either way I'd take my chance on that for the potential top of the order (although I know he doesn't have the greatest OBP). This is also dependent on him being healthy. Herm can fix him I hear that Baldelli has been doing yoga since last ST, hopefully that helps.

I wouldn't mind seeing Uribe sent to the rays, maybe we could get one of their OF's that are stuck (Dukes, Justin Ruggiano, Fernando Perez) if we could anyone of those for uribe thatd be great, possibly even throwing in a live arm like aardsma or sisco or cash. Juan would just be a place holder for Brignac. Honestly out of the 3 OF's i mentioned i think Perez would suit or needs the most, he looks to be a great top of the order hitter possibly could be a midseason call up depending on how he did at AAA or maybe even break with the club out of ST.

The Rays don't need anyone, they have the best farm system in all of baseball and a loaded ML club that just needs a bit more time together. Going around the diamond. C - Navaro after the ASB he was one fire, and he was once a highly touted prospect and well regarded all throughout baseball; He looks to be coming into his own hes still incredibly young for both a catcher and player in the show. I think he projects as Paul Lo Duca with a bit more pop and OBP. 1B - Wow the benefit of being in the cellar and not having expectations placed on you as a team really let them find a diamond in the rough in Pena, GG defense and he still has alot of good years ahead of him provided he has truly turned it around, even if he falls off to a .265/.360/.490-500 player thats still incredibly good. 2B - Brendan Harris finally got a chance at FT AB's and he produced; hopefully he won't regress, he still has a little bit of room to get better but this isn't really a concern for the rays. SS - I really hope they stick Akinori Iwamura here, his glove was golden and rangey at the hot corner and he should at least be average at SS. 3B - Longoria has this spot locked up for years to come. LF - Crawford hes still so young and is one of the most excitiing players in baseball, all though he does make alot of bad descisions on the base paths. CF - Upton they finally found a place on the diamond to stick his bat, and he decent out there. RF - Young; albert belle 2.0? DH - If baldelli could reamain healthy, this would be the place for him. Dukes has no place in that organization anymore possibly even baseball, They should look to get .30 on the dollar for him. Their staff looks great going forward seeing how they're doing their best to protect Sheilds and Kazmir. Next year i think they make alot of noise in the east, possibly like the O's in '05 but they actually finish at .500. Also next year if they grab Alverez it only gets more interesting. That team is so great looking going forward.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Sep 28, 2007 -> 08:23 AM) I too was happy to see him pitch well... it was a nice, encouraging reason to turn on this game in glorious HD. However, Broadway won't strike that many batters normally, that much I can promise you. I did LOVE how AJ handled the youngster... he will definitely be good for a staff of mostly youth next year. I can tell you one thing, I'd rather win 70 games next year with 4 youths in the rotation than win 81 with Garland and Contreras, neither gets you the playoffs, one develops the youngsters and gets you a high draft pick, the other leaves you in mediocrity Get a solid return for Garland, and get whatever chicken scraps you can for Contreras, and move on. If I have Buehrle, I'm happy. i agree completely, id rather develop youth in the rotation and get a better draft pick, than win 81 games and just get complimentray picks for JG and who knows maybe by the grace of God, the chicago white sox starting staff (Danks, Floyd, Broadway/Egbert/Gio) can come out guns blazing ala the young marlins staff of 06, i highly doubt it, but you never know, thats what makes this game so great.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 28, 2007 -> 06:56 AM) Let's stop comparing him or his stuff to 40 year old Greg Maddux. That's not all that hot a compliment, even if he can still put it through a lifesaver. And further, he will never have Greg Maddux' control. Precious few people ever will, and a guy whose control wasn't all that hot in AAA doesn't warrant such outrageous comparison. Fine Gregory, I'll stop comparing Lances mediocre fastball ala "Maddux-esk", when you stop comparing Jon Garland to Mike Hampton; sound like a deal? seriously though if you read my post there are alot of IFs IF he can locate, IF he continues to refine his change. I didn't say he was Maddux, I just simply said he has pedestrian velocity with amazing movement on his pitches and that IF he can locate he will be able to miss alot of bats with it.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 27, 2007 -> 09:52 PM) Ya, that movement was ridiculous. He could run it in and out all day long and that should bode well with him being able to get lefties and righties out. Plus he could throw it up and down in the zone (he had a nice one on Buck, got Gaithright on an elevated fastball) and than down in the zone he got a good number of grounders with some nice sink. Hell, all that movement almost acts as a few different pitches as opposed to just a fastball. This is a guy that if he improves his command could really be a solid starter. After watching his start my draw dropped on the movement his fastball; its just been a few appearances at the end of the season but if that is what he was working on all this year developing a quality two seam that just dances in the zone, then that explains alot about his season and control at AAA. his velocity is maddux-esk if he can locate it wont matter if he throws at 88-92 instead of 94-98, especially considering he sells that spike curve so well and its got such great depth. if he continues to refine that change up he will be a force to reckon with.

hey GP whats this supposed to mean? taken from Talking Chop

nice to see josh with two walks

QUOTE(LukeGofannon @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 08:15 AM) The thought is good but its already been done, far better than anyone here could hope w/o putting months and maybe years into their formulas. Its called EqA and VORP is good too, WARP is even better because it has defense. whats the formula for warp3 ?

congrats josh!

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Sep 23, 2007 -> 07:14 AM) Is Hopper your next version of Reggie Willits there beautsox? I just can't see a deal like that happening. Keppinger isn't rated that highly for starters and I don't know if he's that good defensively at SS, not to mention his lack of power offensively. And you know Wayne Krivsky loves his relievers. Cincinatti is definitely an option when it comes to trading Garland though. you leave reggie out of this lol Hopper just looks like a much better version of podsednik, he can actually throw some leather has some XBH pop in his back and can control the zone, infact i'm having a hard time finding a comp for him on BR. As for Keppinger protract his stats out too full time ABs and he could give you 15HR, as for his defense take defensive metrics with a grain of salt but his ZR is .861; Uribe's is .827, Jeter's is .763. so that gives you some kinda of idea. Hopper and Richar would make a good top of the order ahead of JI, PK and Dye and Keppinger just looks like a solid complimentary player that can end the uribe era. Also both Keppinger and Hopper destroy LHP Just some thoughts though, if we could get those 3 players for garland i would be pleased.

I've got a different idea. Trade Garland to the Reds, their one pitcher short of competing in the god awful NL Central. Garland to the reds for OF Norris Hopper + SS Jeff Keppinger + RP Jared Burton. Hopper is 28 but has proven he can hit at the ML level and appears to be a late bloomer .338/.372/.397 for the season in limited playing time and .340/.380/.405 for his career, he actually has some extra base pop and speed. Keppinger is 27 and looks to be a late bloomer too his season to date .346/.410/.491 his career line is .315/.369/.444 both are making league min and could possibly be in our next play off push, he can also play 2B/3B. Burton is a good looking bullpen arm mid 90s fastball(94/95) with decent movement and a good splitter (86), he was a rule V draft pick from oakland. For the season hes putting up this line 2.36ERA, 1.14WHIP 35SO 42IP Garland seems to be the type of pitcher that could be conducive to their ball park. Harang Arroyo Garland Shearn Bailey that actually looks respectable for them. If they move Dunn or can actually find someone to bite on that albatross of around their neck known as Griffey they're looking pretty good going into next year. C - Valentin 1B - Votto 2B - Phillips SS - Gonzalez 3B - Encarnacion LF - Griffey/Dunn CF - Hamilton RF - Jay Bruce Trading Dunn/Griffey provided they approve it could bring them the talent they need to fill in their holes. And before anyone says no way would the reds do this, Krivsky is the same guy who traded Austin Kearns with Felipe Lopez and Ryan Wagner to Nationals for Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, Royce Clayton, Brendan Harris and Daryl Thompson For us if we could give josh more time to figure it out at 3B and let him overcome his issues it would make things so much easier. With Garland moved that would free up money to sign a good CF and move Hopper to LF and josh back to 3B and Owens back to the bench as a 4th OF pinch runner. DH - Thome C - AJP 1B - Konerko 2B - Richar SS - Keppinger 3B - Fields LF - Hopper CF - Rowand RF - Dye With our Rotation and hopefully our hitters progressing and returning to their career norms there isn't a reason we couldn't compete next year. Relief pitching in general is so volatile that Mmac and Thornton could easily turn it around again and produce like '06, and Logan and Wasserman just have to be used as specialists. Jenks is still money. are starting staff has some question marks in Floyd/Jose/Danks, but its worth the gamble, either we compete or we get another top 10 pick, at least with those moves we're moving forward and have some sort of chance in the central.

The dodgers power is going to come from within in time; unless a-rod opts out, they've got the money to make it happen. also i thought this quote is a pretty good summation of whats going on in LA. "A youth movement works only when the veterans are flexible enough to move. The Dodgers veterans, it turns out, were not. Although they won't say it publicly, neither Kent nor Luis Gonzalez nor Nomar Garciaparra is thrilled that they have lost playing time to the kids, even though most of the kids were outplaying them. This worry about careers and numbers has quietly bred the sort of discontent that decreases patience for rookie mistakes." -- Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 10:43 PM) I would be fairly surprised if, after this season, the Dodgers don't try to find at least 1 more starting pitcher this offseason. Penny, Lowe, Billingsly, then a bunch of hurt guys. Schmidt, Wolf (is he even under contract), Loaiza, David Wells (not under contract). Even with the guys coming up, they will probably want another starter. And I believe Lowe is a FA at the end of 08, so there will still be an opening in the near future. As is Loaiza. Not sure about Penny. If the dodgers don't make the post season, you can look for them to clean house this offseason. Pierre was a reactionary signing and i wouldn't in the least bit be surprised to see him shipped off to the twins with 18.25M in $ for a couple of live arms. Delwyn Young is more talented than just a 4th OFer and has shown in his second go around the PCL at las vegas that he deserves a very very long look. Either and Kemp will not be blocked going into next year. Nomar will be moved for anything and Laroche will finally have his bat inserted into the lineup provided his back doesn't start acting up. Furcal will likely be moved because they have his replacement in Hu or Abreu. Kent met the terms of his option and will keep 2B warm while dewitt continues to develop or they decide abreu is their man. Loney finally has a position and his bat is sticking in that line up. Martin isn't going anywhere. looking at their rotation: Penny Lowe Billingsley Loaiza Schmidt Then they've got Stults, Kershaw and James McDonald. They really need to get rid of Ned Colletti and Grady Little and promote from within; Logan White should takeover as GM

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 05:39 PM) Dodgers are probably going to go after Blanton, hard, instead of Garland. I just don't expect us to get much for Jon Garland. Who are we going to trade with and what are we going to get from them? Thats just A's fans dreaming of getting their hands on the rich dodger system; i doubt the dodgers go after blanton, they're rotation is crowded already, and kershaw and elbert will be pushing up pretty soon; and they've got insurance in Stults whos putting up very respectable numbers as a 4/5th.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 04:54 PM) I think it means you can definitely trade one - just not both. Because given Floyd's performances, I think he has shown there is a good chance he will be a serviceable starter. Add that to a few guys like Gio and others who will be vying for it, and I would feel confident that one of them will be OK. Now, trading both, that might be taking a big risk. I say roll the dice, its win, win either way. If KW thinks he can do a 180 with this ship he needs to get a real CF and SS and the bullpen has to turn the corner on its own; they're so fickel to begin with that Mmac and Thornton could easily turn it around or bust again. I'd have no problem going into '08 with Javy and Mark as the only "vets"; if we compete great, if not its old news and we get another top 10 pick, ill still be showing up to the games watching "the kids" in early april. '08 SP - Buehrle SP - Vazquez SP - Danks SP - Floyd SP - Broadway/Egbert/Gio/Haeger DH - Thome C - AJP 1B - PK 2B - Richar SS - Furcal 3B - Crede LF - Fields CF - Rowand RF - Dye

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 18, 2007 -> 09:47 PM) I didn't see the game but judging by the box score Fields, Thome, Richar, Floyd and Wasserman all had pretty good games AND we lost? Sounds pretty good to me. +1 i love seeking the rookies do well only too see us come up short and closer to the #1 overall pick.

Personally i think fields develops somewhere between Jermaine Dye and Troy Glaus as a hitter; someone who can control the zone pretty well but either his average or obp will suffer while he tries to spray the ball or hit for more power. either way he needs to shorten up when he gets too 3-2 and protect the zone. i must say i do like the fact that he doesn't chase breaking balls out of the zone that often, but he needs to be able to get around on that maso menos fastball down the heart of the plate. either way strike outs aren't the worst thing(provided he starts walking more).

Enemy Territory - QUAKE Wars is awesome i was on the beta and the demo came out on the 10th its great also TF2 looks great.