scenario

Sounds like fun. Never been to the baseball meetings, but I'm guessing it will be treated like a typical conference... you would have to have a pass to get into certain areas. (Scheduled meetings and the tradeshow at the Conference Center, etc.) But with 4,000 people attending, and activities spread out between two different hotels (Bellagio and the Hilton) there should be plenty of opportunity to hang around the bars/casinos etc and mingle with convention goers.

Here's some info on Marquez from a 2008 preseason article... Background: Drafted with the compensation pick the Yankees received when David Wells left as a free agent after the 2003 season, Marquez has progressed steadily and was a workhorse for Trenton in 2007. He led the Eastern League with 15 wins and ranked second with 155 innings. Strengths: Known as a groundball guy, Marquez works off his power 89-93 mph sinker. His fastball has as much life as any in the system, with excellent run to go with its sink. His changeup and curveball have improved to be solid-average pitches. He commands his changeup better, making it his preferred secondary pitch. He has the best pickoff move of any righthander in the system. Weaknesses: Marquez doesn't have enough power or bite to his curveball for it to be a strikeout pitch, and he's dependent on his defense because he doesn't miss a lot of bats. He'll have to continue to refine his fastball command and have that pitch play up if his curve doesn't improve. The Future: Marquez has the chance to become a workhorse groundball machine who fills the No. 3 or 4 slot in a rotation. Because of New York's pitching depth, he'll start 2008 in Triple-A and won't challenge for a big league job until the following year.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 10:04 PM) He's also only had 250 career AB's right handed... 250 too many... .232 BA .276 OBP .360 SLG .636 OPS In 250 at-bats... 81 K's and 16 walks. Can't hit for average or power right-handed. Strikes out about once every 3 at-bats and can't buy a walk. Yikes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Compare to his career numbers batting left-handed... .269 BA .339 OBP .460 SLG .799 OPS In 848 career at-bats... 232 Ks and 92 walks It's like two different players. One that can't hit and one that can.

I was just looking over Wilson Betemit's career stats and I'm scratching my head wondering why this guy continues to try switch hitting. Year after year it seems pretty obvious... as a right-handed hitter he sucks. Not a little bit... major suckage. Sub-Uribian. As a left-handed hitter, he's simply a much better player. Not all-star but pretty respectable. Link to his career stats/splits You'd have to think at some point, somebody would tell him, "Hey... do you know what? You are not a switch hitter! Stop hitting right-handed... you're not good at it. Just hit left-handed from now on. You couldn't do worse."

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 02:37 PM) Marquez pitched two innings today: 5 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout Just checked the final score... 14-8 Sags. And Marquez ending up getting the win. Cole Armstrong went 3-6 with a homerun and 3 RBIs. No other Sox batted or pitched, though Danks came in late as a defensive replacement.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 03:32 PM) He's just not very good. My brother saw him face the Bulls twice this year, and said he was throwing 85 mph and gave up a lot of homers. Glad to see you modified the 8 homers in 5 innings. Would have been pretty hard since he only gave up 12 homeruns all year and no more than 6 in any one month.

QUOTE (Jeremy @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 02:15 PM) My memory is cluttered of memories of things like clutch home runs by Paully, JD, and Tad, some stellar defensive plays by Crede and Uribe, and tremendous pitching by the starters and Jenks. Thankfully, when I think of that team, I'm overwhelmed with these positive memories, not the thought of Everett ambling around in CF and performing unspectacularly at the plate. In 2005, Everett played exactly 0 games in CF.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 01:30 PM) You must drive REEEEEEEEEEEALLY FAST. I live in Glendale and am still 15-20 minutes away. All I can say about this move is YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! :headbang A nice early Christmas present for you!! I think you are officially THE closest Soxtalk poster to the new spring training facility. I am soooo jealous.

The video includes conversations with Poreda and Beckham.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 01:11 PM) Closer is by far the most overrated position in baseball. I think that oversimplifies the issue. A closer is normally the best reliever on a team. Every good team needs somebody who is relatively dependable at getting people out in tough situations. Somebody you can throw out there in a close game who is unlikely to screw up. There's nothing 'over-rated' about that.

For anybody interested in going out there this spring... The airport in Rockford has direct flights to Mesa, AZ (an eastern suburb of Phoenix) on Allegiant Airlines... a very decent no frills airline. There's free parking and check-in is a breeze... about 5 minutes from counter to gate. I've flown Allegiant to Orlando a bunch of times. But two weeks ago was my first time flying them to Phoenix. Absolutely no question I will use them next time I go out there. Thought I'd mention it in case people weren't familiar with it.

QUOTE (shipps @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 01:00 PM) Why the hell would you go to Peoria?Its in Arizona,did I miss something? Peoria, AZ

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 10:34 PM) Very little talk of Egbert around here the last six months. Last year, he was a favorite of many. After a rough start early in the year while coming back from an injury, Egbert had a decent (not great but decent) year. His record didn't show it... mostly because Charlotte was a bad team... not because he had a bad year. For example: Take a look at the difference between early season (April-May) and the rest of the year (June-August.) April-May Started 6 games... pitched 31 innings... had a 7.55 ERA. Struck out 26... walked 21. Then compare June-August Started 16 games... pitched 98.2 innings... had a 3.76 ERA. Struck out 91... walked 25. A tale of two seasons.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 08:35 PM) McCulloch blows. I've seen him pitch for the past season and a half, I know. LOL. You really hate that guy, don't you? Give us the rundown JPN. What have you seen (or not seen) with McCulloch? Is it a stuff issue? I seem to remember you saying something earlier in the year that McCulloch seemed prone to giving up the big inning.

QUOTE (Raf @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 01:15 PM) Wow. The analysis is spot on. The Sox DID sell shockingly low on Swisher, AND gave up the best pitcher in the deal on top of everything. The chances of Swisher rebounding are much better than any of these former Yankee scrubs ever amounting to anything. There's a reason why South Side Sox is regularly linked to by other, respected publications. It's a great site with extensive analysis and scouting predictions, which is more than I can say about Sox Talk. I'm sure I will be kicked off now, so I will leave you all to bicker amongst yourselves. Analysis????? What analysis? I just read the articles again, and the only 'analysis' in there is the one little table of Hits/9 and K/9 for Marquez. Ohhh... I'm sorry. I forgot the 'analysis' he did of Nunez: "And Nunez isn't even worth discussing, because the Sox added essentially the same player in the deal, a AA reliever with good numbers. That seems like a one-for-one swap in itself." Let's call those articles what they are... opinion pieces of someone who didn't like the trade. Period.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 09:18 PM) Jason Varitek had a higher OBP than AJ Pierzynski last season. I think you have an interesting point with his splits Kalapse. I didn't realize they were so skewed. On paper he looks like a natural fit to platoon against lefties.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 01:23 PM) Funny how some scouts say this, yet according to some scouts he has "issues" That's because he went on an insane hitting tear about 2 days after the report saying he had issues. Funny how issues go away when you're hitting.

I remember seeing Sean Casey pinch hit for him in the playoffs and thinking... 'Wow. So it's come to this. How sad.'

I saw a blip in one of the newspapers last night that Marquez is expected to get one start before the season ends.

According to SI today, KRod is looking for 5 years - $75M. That could put Jenks talks back in play pretty quickly.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 10:49 AM) I will be shocked if Chris Getz is starting for us on Opening Day at 3B. Ditto. Out of his 374 minor league games, Getz played 6 at 3B. The only way he plays 3rd over Fields is if Josh gets traded or hit by lightning.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 09:10 AM) There are a lot of funny comments. My favorite might be Carl Pavono............hehe 164) Toby Hall, C: He is better known in the White Sox clubhouse for his facial hair than his talent. Sad, but true.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 10:48 PM) I don't like this stuff on Beckham. I hope it's nothing. It's nothing.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 11:15 AM) My young kids have got to be wondering what this Viagra stuff is for and why it's making all the grandpas and grandmas on teevee dance so much. LOL!! That's funny. Made me laugh out loud. Thank you... I needed that.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 12:37 PM) Jerry Owens is not a starting outfielder in the majors. Well... during the next few months we'll see if KW agrees with you. I'd prefer an upgrade myself, especially if we go young at 3B and 2B. I don't think it would be smart to experiment at all 3 positions.