scenario

Conference shuffling about more than cash Nice article by Dan Wetzel from YahooSports Discusses conference defections, alignments, etc., from the perspective of impact on recruiting Worth reading

One of the problems Flowers had is that he came to spring training with some adjustments to his 'old' (last years) swing that he worked on over the winter. The Sox were unhappy with these changes and were trying to help him get back to his old swing. Not sure what other changes he was trying in May that he's abandoned.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 04:18 PM) I think it's time i move on from Jayson Nix. T-Bolt finally abandoning the Nix bandwagon??

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 04:01 PM) Blowing out the Cubs remains fun. Blowing out the Cubs hours after watching the Blackhawks championship parade... a very very good day.

Why is it that the only source playing out this story to soap opera proportions is the Sun Times? Never mind. I don't need an answer to that.

Back to back wins?? Wow. I almost forgot what it felt like.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 10, 2010 -> 12:38 PM) Gameday says Scott Barry. Why? Ahhh... someone on a Detroit site said Jim Joyce's crew was working this game.

Who's the home plate umpire for today's game?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 10, 2010 -> 09:49 AM) Hearsay? I mean, I'm no fan of the Sun Times, but calling direct quotes printed by the Sun Times to be hearsay? Here's a quote from an MLB.com article last week... Even with this status, though, Pierzynski said Sunday it wouldn't automatically mean he stays in Chicago for the remainder of the 2010 campaign. If the situation makes sense for both sides, Pierzynski would consider consenting to a trade. "Obviously, if the White Sox aren't where we want to be and a team has a chance for the playoffs and to win the World Series and they come and say, 'Hey, we need a catcher,' it would be hard to say no to that," Pierzynski said. "How would you go about that? That's something [where] my love for Chicago and this organization would be a deciding factor, but it's hard as a player to say no. "Look at Jim [Thome] and what he went to last year. You have an opportunity to go somewhere and win, if it's not going to work out here. I hope it works out here, first and foremost. I would like to stay here for a long time." Clearly doesn't sound like he'd block a deal.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 10, 2010 -> 09:44 AM) He's strongly suggested he won't. His words to describe what happens after june 13th, when asked earlier this season by the Sun Times, were "They can't trade me". I don't know how the original question was phrased so he may have left himself an out, but that's what we have to go on. I'll go with logic over hearsay.

I don't think AJ will get traded until closer to the deadline. So what if he gets no trade rights? He'll waive them when the time comes to go to a contender.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Jun 9, 2010 -> 01:57 PM) True but smart baseball people also have to have the foresight to recognize whether it really is a few bad starts or a bad pitcher. That's the tough part and something we won't really know for a while still. Might be true if he didn't have a body of work that suggests he'll snap back. Plus, when you look at his stuff... pitches, speed, movement... There aren't any screaming red flags. I think the injury last year has thrown his mechanics enough that it's affected his command. And eventually he'll get back on track.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Jun 9, 2010 -> 01:21 PM) Why would they take on $16 million (not to mention, about the same for a few more years) for a pitcher who has pitched poorly this season? Because smart baseball people don't write a 28 year old former Cy Young winner off because he's had a handful of bad starts.

Cowley seems hell bent on making the problems between KW and Ozzie appear much bigger than they are.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 8, 2010 -> 07:54 PM) Super stud Kenny Williams Jr.? He's playing everyday and hitting 6th...instead of a guy (Ozzie Lewis) who's hitting .300. I'll vomit if KW Jr. ever wears a Barons uniform. Better get your barf bags and tic tacs ready. It's a lock he'll move up eventually.

Just noticed that the average height of the first 5 players we took is 6'5".

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 8, 2010 -> 01:27 PM) Red Sox took Ramos who I heard good reports on comming out of high school. They have had an expensive draft. Fixed.

Not sure why we had to take a 1B with a big swing and below average speed in the 5th round. Guys like that are a dime a dozen. Baseball America thought he'd go somewhere between rounds 7-10.

Here's a couple of notes I just found on Grimes... Grimes continues rapid development for Hawks ------------------------------ A quote from the Georgia Tech website... Matthew Grimes RHP | R/R | 6-5 | 185 | Hoschton, GA (Mill Creek) • Hall on Grimes: Has a powerful arm with great upside potential • 20th-ranked recruit in Georgia and top 250 in the nation, according to Perfect Game Crosschecker • East Coast Pro Showcase • Played summer baseball for Team Elite ------------------------------

This from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution yesterday... BACK TO THE BRAVES!!!! There is also speculation that the team will consider Mill Creek pitcher Matthew Grimes with their second pick at No. 53 overall. The 6-foot-6 righty throws 94 mph and has signed with Georgia Tech.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jun 8, 2010 -> 10:59 AM) I think Paxton would be pretty decent pick, first round talent, no leverage to use in not signing, and could move pretty quickly possibly making the rotation in mid 2011 or the beginning of 2012. Then in the third round you roll the dice on a guy with signability concerns. Not sure Paxton will still be on the board, but he is a pretty safe pick for a second round guy at best he is a mid-rotation guy at worst a LH set up man. Boras client?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 05:11 PM) The reality to me is...unless you were willing to dump Beckham, Quentin, or Ramirez in the offseason, or you really miss Getz's .516 OPS this year, the only spot where there was a legitimate upgrade to be had was DH by bringing in Thome. You're ignoring each and every one of the real issues here and harping on the minor ones. This team was built to pitch and put together a decent offense. The offense hasn't been decent, but until you can point out for me where you though dumping Beckham and Quentin was a good idea in the offseason, you're focusing on guys who really don't matter. And you're arguing that a team with a $100 million salary shouldn't have on paper an average/mediocre offense, when half the league is in exactly that boat. I disagree. A few comments... You say I'm ignoring each and every one of the real issues? Why? Because I don't agree with you? The majority of comparisons you make for run production to team salary are for team in the NL. I don't think dumping Quentin or Beckham has anything to do with improving this team. The problem is that for the most part we simply built a mediocre offense around them and hoped they'd be better than they are. Bottom Line: I think this is a poorly designed offensive team (average, obp, and slugging). We could have had people who would have made this a MUCH better offensive team in all categories without breaking the bank. And if we had, it is unlikely we'd be in the position we are now. For example: If I was in charge... (this is not revisionary history. It reflects what I would have done at the time, not as a result of looking in the rear view mirror.) I wouldn't have traded for Pierre or Teahen. I think both are highly flawed offensive players who do not add quality to our lineup and therefore were bad decisions. I would have left Beckham at 3B for this year (and avoided screwing up his head with another position move)... I would have gone after Orlando Hudson to play 2B... I would have gone after Damon and put him in left. And I probably would have re-signed Thome. Hudson, Damon, and Thome were better 'risks' than the guys we bet on. The likelihood of them providing offensive consistency to what has been a terribly inconsistent lineup is high. The net salary difference involved would not have been significant. And the net impact on our lineup, IMO, would have been. Instead we rolled the dice... and ended up with mediocrity which has hurt us since other guys we were depending on are struggling and there's been no one to pick them up. You want to disagree... fine. But don't expect me to agree that I'm "harping on a minor issue". We are a bad offensive ballclub by design. That is NOT a minor issue.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:44 PM) Teams that are spending just about as much as us (Or more) with Mediocre offenses: The Sox are 22nd in Runs, spending somewhere around $98 million if you count the money from the Dodgers. Etc, etc.... Now look, I'm going to agree with you that the DH platoon was a poor idea. But let's come back to reality here. $100 million in salary does not make you a big spender in the MLB anymore. 14 teams are at $92 million or above. And even if we'd signed a DH, we're still at the bottom of the league in offense...because Quentin, Beckham, and others have fallen flat on their faces, and none of them were going to be replaced coming into this season. Part of the problem is that we shouldn't have been depending on Quentin coming off injury... or Beckham starting his first full MLB season... to have big years... At the same time we're expecting Teahen, Pierre, Jones, and Rios to have career bounce back type years. Yeah, Rios has delivered. And that's great. Love to see it. But just too many rolls of the dice at the same time IMO. Add in AJP and Alexei getting off to slow starts and you end up with the crapfest we've been watching. All too predictable if you ask me.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:21 PM) I'm not sure we agree on what's causing this awfulness... I tend to think that had the starting pitching performed as expected, we would be in a position to add even with the slow offensive start. I firmly place 80-90% of the blame for this on them, as opposed to the hitting. I understand what you're saying. The pitching has been a disappointment... yes. That was not expected. But I just don't understand why we chose to accept offensive mediocrity (at best) in the first place. We have THE lowest team batting average in the American League. We're near the bottom in OBP. We're 9th in SLG. All despite the fact that everyone is healthy. The sad part is that this (to me) is not a surprise... which is what I find so frustrating about the design of this years team. You shouldn't spend $100M and expect to have a mediocre (at best) offensive team. That's just not acceptable IMO.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:24 PM) What I'm saying is that we would add a bat so that our offense would become better than mediocre. What I'm saying is we should have done that in the offseason... rather than suffering through the inevitable.