scenario

I'd be very disappointed if they traded Dye for Figgins. Figgins just doesn't excite me... and I can't wait for the day he retires so we can stop listening to rumors about him coming to the Sox. Of course, given KW's habit of bringing in players at the end of their careers, even then we may not be safe. I was thinking that KW may be trying to take advantage of Manny turning down another big offer from the Dodgers. If Abreu was off the market, maybe the Dodgers would bite on Dye instead of being held hostage by Manny.

Unlikely that anyone would trade for Dye with Abreu still available as a free agent... But by signing Abreu, KW might be able to make a create a market for JD. Pretty creative if true.

QUOTE (joejoedairy @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 11:21 PM) Keith Laws scouting report #51 overall Tyler Flowers C Chicago White Sox TOP '08 LEVEL: A (Myrtle Beach) UR 23 Flowers wasn't on anyone's radar screen after a decent offensive year in Rome last year at age 21, since he wasn't young for the Sally League and will never be known for his defense behind the plate. The comment about "will never be known for his defense behind the plate" is exactly the kind of B.S. that drives me crazy about Law. This was Flower's first full season behind the plate in the minors. And he made significant improvement since the beginning of the year. But Law, in his typical fashion, probably saw Flowers play once and decided he would never be any good behind the plate. And regarding his "not young for his league" comment. Law is either ignorant of the league average age in the minors or choses to ignore it. Because in 2007, when Flowers was 21, the league average age was... 21. And in 2008, of the 16 position players who played 10 or more games for Myrtle Beach, only 3 were younger than Flowers. So... Mr. Law... who are you crappin'?

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 01:00 PM) BTW, this list f***ing sucks. How is Allen a 4-star prospect and Viciedo a 3? If Allen is a 4, then Viciedo is a 6. Allen should be a 3 and Viciedo should be a 5. A bat like that at 3B with supposedly great arm strength and average-to-above average defensive potential is a 5-star 'spect. I could *see* making Viciedo a 4-star prospect because the BA has never seen him, but if BA is only ranking people on what they've seen, then there's no way Shelby is listed as a CF, there's no way Allen is listed as a 4-star prospect Do you realize what a monster year Allen had? In 472 at-bats (between Winston-Salem and Birmingham)... 32 doubles 6 triples 29 homeruns .367 OBP .555 SLG And he stole 17 bases. One of the things that surprised and impressed scouts this year was his ability to run the bases. It's my understanding he got serious, lost weight, and blew people away with his athleticism. He's no longer looked at as just a big guy who can hit the long-ball. I'm sure that had alot to do with his dramatic improvement in standing as a prospect.

I thought this comment was interesting... "Allen received outstanding reviews from scouts, especially those who saw him as he was finishing up last season at Double-A Birmingham, and that gives him the edge over Viciedo.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 09:11 AM) The Sox exceeded expectations in 2001-2004? Seems like only 2 of 8 seasons exceeded expectations. In 5 of the 8 years since KW took over we finished 1st or 2nd. And in a year we finished 3rd, we had 90 wins and were in the pennant race until late September. We've won 2 division titles and a world series during that time. And we only 'exceeded expectations' in 2 of the 8 seasons? Cheeses. How spoiled are we? Most fan bases would kill for that.

Owens - CF Ramirez - SS Quentin - LF Thome - DH Dye - RF Konerko - 1B Pierzynski - C Fields - 3B Getz - 2B Bench - Lillibridge - 2B/SS, Betemit - 1B/3B, Stewart - C, Anderson - OF Rotation - Buehrle, Floyd, Danks, Colon, Richard Bullpen - Poreda, Carrasco, Russell, Thornton, Linebrink, Dotel, Jenks ------------------------------------------------------------------ But I think it's very possible the Sox will only carry 11 pitchers in April (making Poreda the odd man out because he's probably the only one with options left), and that Wise will make the team instead. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Things will get pretty interesting if Viciedo and/or a couple of pitchers competing for spots (like Broadway, Egbert, Wasserman, Link, or Jimenez) have a good spring training. ------------------------------------------------------------------- And the whole lineup gets much more confusing/interesting if Owens pulls a groin muscle again... and Anderson or Lillibridge have a strong spring training. I do NOT believe that CF is being handed to Owens. I think one of those three guys will win the job based on how well they play in S/T. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Anderson flat out wins the job this year... throwing Ozzie's plans for leadoff back into chaos. If so, Brian would bat 9th, and whoever ends up winning the 2B job (Getz or Lillibridge) would likely be our leadoff hitter.

QUOTE (thedoctor @ Feb 1, 2009 -> 09:14 PM) i dunno. i just don't see it. i think alexei's more valuable lower in the order where he's got a better chance to drive in a fair amount of runs. jmho. I understand. There are pro's and con's to both. If he does hit lower in the order, it's likely to be 7th... with Fields, Getz, and Owens hitting behind him. If he hits second, he'll have Quentin, Thome, and Dye hitting behind him. In the second scenario, I think he'll see better pitches. That's why I like it.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 1, 2009 -> 08:45 PM) If you believe KW, everyone has been wrong so far. AJP will bat 2nd again. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,5416853.story I can't see it if Owens leads off. It would result in 3 consecutive lefties: Getz at #9; Owens at #1; AJ at #2. I don't think Ozzie would do that.

QUOTE (thedoctor @ Feb 1, 2009 -> 07:05 PM) i don't know why you'd put alexei second when he's one of our better guys with runners in scoring position. (1) Because he'd see more fast-balls. (2) And people would be unlikely to pitch around him with Q batting 3rd. I like the idea. I think he could have a great year in the #2 position. Regarding him being good with guys in scoring position... It won't be a problem if the guys in front of him (Fields batting 8th, Getz 9th, and whoever at leadoff) do a respectable job of getting on base.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 1, 2009 -> 04:57 PM) According to KW per the Daily Herald: Two days before SoxFest started, Williams pointed out Anderson’s skills. Maybe he’s hoping other teams read this quote: “If Brian Anderson would have played every day last year, he would have hit about .275 and would have hit 25 home runs,” Williams said. “I don't think you can disagree with that.” So... in other words, KW is counting on other teams' GMs reading the Daily Herald, eh?

agreed

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 08:38 PM) I personally think he gets slammed here far, far, far more than his play justifies. He does have a noodle arm. But his glove and footwork, his jumps and reads, as 2007 progressed, had all gotten pretty decent. People are just so up in arms about him maybe starting that they allow his arm to color their perception of everything else. And most of what people remember about his arm comes from 2007... when he got promoted right after having a serious collision with a wall in AAA... on his throwing shoulder. His arm is not as bad as what people saw/remember from that summer.

QUOTE (IamtheHBOMB @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 03:22 PM) Why is everyone so high on Getz? (This is not a snide comment in the least -- I'm genuinely curious.) What people said above plus... The minor league development people/coaches are very high on him... like his skills and approach... think he has a good shot to contribute at the major league level this year.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 10:51 AM) If you are a business owner and Obama or Pedro come to you and says, I am raising your taxes. You say OK. Then, you past the cost to through your product to the consumers. Who then promptly quit buying your product and/or switch to one of your competitors. Not all companies can pass along price increases to consumers. Demand determines what people will spend... not a business owners costs.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 09:40 AM) I think he meant to say rich people shouldn't pay (more) taxes. Well... then in the words of Emily Litella... "Never mind." "What's all this about conserving America's natural race horses?"

QUOTE (Cubano @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 09:08 AM) Rich people do not pay taxes. They pass along their extra cost to the masses. I'm a financial advisor... And I can assure you that rich people pay taxes. In fact, most of them pay ALOT in taxes. In retirement, income tax is far and away the single greatest expense most wealthy people have. And when they die, most wealthy people end up leaving 30-50% of all of their assets to Uncle Sam due to estate taxes. So... there seems to be this belief that wealthy people don't pay taxes, but it simply is NOT true. If it were true, most accounting firms and financial planners would go out of business.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 29, 2009 -> 01:09 AM) I was referring more to his versatility (in terms of playing all over the field, but even being an average defender at any of them) rather than his speed/power combination. To compare him with Soriano is a bit much....maybe Bill Hall would be more appropriate. I just can't imagine what starting position he would be able to hold down on the White Sox two years from. He's got some power and speed, but doesn't project as a corner player. So that leaves CF, SS and 2B, and he's definitely not going to be playing SS with us. I'm not saying he's going to be worse than Jerry Owens or anything like that, but the Soriano comparison raised my eyebrows. Keep an eye on him. I believe he's better than you seem to think he is. I think he could be our left-fielder a couple of years from now. (And the suggestion was not that he would be Soriano... the comment was 'Soriano lite'... which could mean a Bill Hall type player.)

Offensively, Shelby was ready to move up to AA at mid-season, but the Sox kept him in Winston-Salem to work on his defense. The organization decided going into '08 that he was going to stick in the outfield rather than 2B. He's not a butcher in left by any means but he's still relatively new to the outfield and needs work on his technique and routes. It'll be really interesting to see how he does in Birmingham this year. BTW, for what it's worth... in a year-end poll of coaches in the Carolina League, Shelby was selected 'the most exciting offensive player' in the league.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 11:38 PM) That's minor league pitching though. He's a talented guy and one of our best offensive prospects, but it would be asking a hell of a lot for him to SLG .500 in the bigs. Also keep in mind that those numbers came in A ball after spending three years in college. The point was and still is that Shelby and Figgins are not even remotely similar ballplayers. Shelby has speed and power. He's more of a Soriano-lite not a Figgins-lite.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 10:50 PM) Then you go down to someone like Shelby, who's far from being anything but a 4th OF/utility infielder (Chone Figgins Lite). In his only two full minor league seasons, Shelby has over a .500 SLG percentage... 35 doubles, 9 triples, and 16 homeruns in 2007... mid 800's OPS (488 at-bats) 37 doubles, 7 triples, and 15 homeruns in 2008... mid 800's OPS again (447 at-bats). Chone Figgins had a .387 SLG and a total of 18 homeruns in 9 minor league seasons. Totally different style of ballplayers.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 03:16 PM) I think maybe we are distorting this a little. I didn't get away from this that after 2 weekends Joey Cora took Josh fields from poor defender to a shockingly good defender. Rather that Josh Fields went to Joey Cora's home two weekends this month to prove how hard he had worked and how much improved he was. Fields went to Miami to work out with Cora who hit groundballs to him... drilled him in fundamentals... worked on his technique, etc.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 11:57 AM) If Pie finds his swing somehow in Seattle Baltimore, then obviously it would swing the trade in the Mariners' Orioles' favor. He's still very young, so the M's O's have time to work with him. Fixed.

Pie + Cedeno = Heilman??? Wow. Good thing Hendry waited til after the Cubs convention to pull this off. Talk about selling low.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 11:19 AM) I wish the best for Josh. Could these articles be to increase his trade value? Articles like these won't increase his trade value. They're intended to influence fan's opinions, not GMs. Besides, I don't think the Sox have any intention of trading Fields until another player is ready to step in as a starter. And Betemit ain't it.