scenario

An hour long program describing the WhiteSox 2008 season... highlights etc. Just started.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Dec 25, 2008 -> 09:22 PM) nice, i'd love to see that highlight again There you go (link).

QUOTE (joeynach @ Dec 24, 2008 -> 07:44 PM) Latest headline on MLBtraderumors.com, "Angels Standing Pat With Current Outfield". It even says they are going to let Garett Anderson walk, so why on earth would they then go after Dye, a very similar player in terms of age and production. Dye and PK both aren't going anywhere unless we are 15 games out at the break and some NL team is desperate. Garret Anderson has not been in Dye's league as a hitter since 2003. The whole reason the Angels' rumors have surfaced is that they are looking to add an impact bat. Look at their lineup. It was pretty weak this year... in the bottom half of the AL in RBIs and homeruns; and 2nd to last in doubles. The way things stand they might be getting weak production out of 3 key positions this year... 3B; 1B; and DH. So, I'm not suggesting we trade either Paulie or Dye out there, but either of them would fill holes the Angels need to address.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Dec 24, 2008 -> 01:15 PM) since when has PK's trade value sky rocketed? Last time I checked he was a slow 1B coming off 2 bad years with a large contract and a no-trade-clause Well... a little perspective... He has not had two bad years in a row. He's had one. 2007 wasn't great, but except for his 20pt dip versus career batting average, he was pretty productive. .351 OBP .841 OPS 34 Doubles 31 homeruns 90 RBIs Take a look at the league stats from two years ago and it's pretty clear... Those numbers are better than alot of very good hitters had in the AL that year. So... 2008 was definitely a bad year. 2007? Not bad.

What's Figgins' contract situation?

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 09:28 PM) Especially considering he'll be a full-time DH. He probably won't even bring a glove to the ballpark. Glove? What glove? The one Giambi had in New York was full of holes.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 08:31 PM) You'd have to be crazy to think the Rays would move one of their top SP right now. They simply have no reason to trade one of them right now. But... they might consider trading one for the right deal... because they are going to into spring training with 8 MLB ready starting pitchers. I'm not saying we should trade Paulie or JD... or that that Tampa would want them or want to take on those salaries... But Tampa is probably deeper in starting pitching talent right now than any team in baseball. So, I wouldn't be surprised to see them make a trade involving pitching before the season starts.

QUOTE (philadelphia sox fan @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 08:06 PM) Well, my computer isn't exactly new, and firefox tends to shut itself down on a regular basis so I needed an alternative. Day two with Opera is working well. Opera is a great choice for people with older computers or slow Internet connections. I think of it kind of like 'Firefox-lite'. Firefox will do everything Opera does and much more, but it works much better on newer/faster computers. For example, it does not work well on my 3 year old Dell Desktop running Windows XP, but it's amazing on my 2 month old laptop with Vista and 3Gigs of ram. I'm hooked on Firefox because of all the great add-ons that are available.

Could be a banner year for Dr. James Andrews. Might even set up a satellite office in Texas.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 05:17 PM) Speaking of 1B...whatever happened to Brad Eldred? Just signed as a minor league free agent with the Nats... I think.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 05:03 PM) What's he looking to get? $16M X 4 years... And he turns 36 next June.

No way the Sox would give him the combo of years and dollars he's asking for.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 04:22 PM) Would it be any trouble to you to post a link? Please and thank you. I would have but I just cleared my cache and lost the link. Will look it up later. Edit... here it is... with a quote too. Teixeira instantly becomes the Yankees' No. 3 hitter, behind Derek Jeter and in front of Alex Rodriguez. It addresses both offensive and defensive issues that were pressing for the Yankees in the upcoming season. But the Yankees were just as worried about 2010. Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Xavier Nady are all entering the walk year of their contracts. So the Yankees were looking at replacing as many as three lineup slots. However, next offseason the free-agent market is much leaner than this one, with only another Scott Boras client, Matt Holiday, as a standout performer near his prime. Though the Yankees feel they have pitching prospects ready to break through, they do not believe the same about their positional base on their farm. Thus, they worried that if they did not act on Teixeira now they would regret it a year from now. The Yankees will try to trade at least one player from the group of Damon, Matsui, Nady and Nick Swisher to unclog a logjam at corner outfield/DH/first base, also trying to reduce some payroll. The player the Yankees would most like to move is Matsui, who is due $13 million a year. The Angels, after failing to land Teixeira, are among the teams looking for a productive bat and have room at DH. The Rangers, A's and Rays also could fall into that category.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 04:03 PM) I can see him getting traded. When the Yanks acquired him, they said he would exclusively play 1B. Now that they have Teixeira, I doubt they'll keep him on the bench to play at most 10-15 games for him during the season. I just read an article in the New York Post that suggests the Yanks are likely to try and trade Matsui instead. He's going into the final year of his contract. Total speculation but I could see him getting moved to the Dodgers.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 03:03 PM) I wouldn't be surprised if Nick Swisher never plays a game for the Yankees. I was just thinking the same thing.

So... Once again Nick Swisher is a player without a position.

I predict that by the end of spring training, Jerry Owens will suffer another groin injury... creating an opportunity for BA to start the season in CF... and that Brian will perform well enough to keep the job.

Note to Sickels... It's Viciedo.... not Viciendo.

There was a real nice interview with Flowers on WhiteSox Weekly (radio program)... it was two weeks ago I think. The program started at noon. Ronge started the interview around 12:15 IIRC and it went about 15 minutes. It's probably archived on the WSCR site if anybody wants to listen to it. A few comments that really stuck out in my mind: - He really wants to be a catcher. And it was a point he made to KW when the trade took place. - When asked about his defense, he pointed out that this was his first full minor league season as a catcher and that his defense improved significantly as the season went on. He also said he focused on his throwing in the AFL and had made significant progress. - When asked which MLB player (past or present) he would compare his hitting style to... he said he had been told by several people he reminded them of Mark McGuire. And he feels his offensive game is MLB ready right now. Other good stuff too, but I'm not remembering specifics right now. Worth listening too though.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 22, 2008 -> 10:24 AM) Here's BA's top 10 White Sox prospects in 2006: 1. Ryan Sweeney, of 2. Josh Fields, 3b 3. Lance Broadway, rhp 4. Kyle McCulloch, rhp 5. Charlie Haeger, rhp 6. Aaron Cunningham, of 7. Adam Russell, rhp 8. Lucas Harrell, rhp 9. Matt Long, rhp 10. Chris Carter, 1b Prospect rankings mean didley. That's a pretty sad looking list, isn't it? LOL. Broadway 3rd, McCulloch 4th, Haeger 5th, Russell 7th, Harrell 8th... Wow.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Dec 22, 2008 -> 09:43 AM) I don't think it was his "rationale" for why Marquez won't be a good major leaguer. I think it was more to show how comparing Marquez to Danks, Floyd, and Garland is silly. All were far better prospects. And my comments were simply intended to point out that comparing Marquez to Grilli, Masset, and Glover was silly. Because Marquez is a much better prospect. And much to the despair of a few posters on the board... he is going to get a shot at the rotation in spring training.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Dec 21, 2008 -> 10:52 PM) Could somebody please use Google Translator and translate it into English for everyone else? When I tried to translate the link, it just took me to the Impacto Deportivo homepage still in Spanish. It basically says what was in the MLBTR note + Manny wanted to stay with the Dodgers but they weren't willing to pay. That's about it.

QUOTE (Jeremy @ Dec 22, 2008 -> 12:32 AM) I didn't really cite Masset, Grilli, and Glover because I think they're highly similar prospects to Marquez, I did it because people seem to be caught up in the notion that Kenny acquired an unheralded prospect who could fit into the rotation. Well... if you were clearer about that earlier you would have saved us both a lot of time responding to each other's posts.

Let's see... Players/Round selected/Minor league ERA and # of seasons in the minors Garland 1st round (3.55 in 5 minor league seasons) Danks 1st round (4.20 in 4 seasons) Floyd 1st round (3.69 in 6 seasons) Masset 8th round (4.57 in 7 minor league seasons) Grilli 24th round (4.51 in 8 seasons) Glover 15th round (4.75 in 12 seasons) And Marquez....... 1st round (supplemental) The 41st player picked in the entire 2004 draft Minor league career ERA... 3.60 in 5 minor league seasons

Here is a preseason 2008 report on Marquez... 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 (Yankees) 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's additional information from a mid-season 2007 article by BA's Chris Kline. Jeff Marquez and Alan Horne have the best pure stuff in the Trenton rotation, and no scout would go out on a limb to give either one an edge at this point. Marquez, a supplemental first-rounder in 2004, has a live arm that consistently produces 94-95 mph four-seamers. His sinker is even better, though both his curveball and changeup lag behind the other two offerings right now. "He's got a real quick arm and works very fast, good rhythm," a scout from an American League club said. "His curveball is a little too soft, too loopy at times. He can really get around it and doesn't have the consistency you might think. But he's a power arm with an awful lot of upside. He could really be a groundball machine." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pro's on Marquez are his fastball and sinker. Both are reportedly very good pitches. The knock on Marquez seems to be: - Lack of consistency/command with his change and curve - Lack of a true out pitch - Nothing he's been able to throw consistently inside to left-handed hitters As a result, he ends up being a two-pitch pitcher who's dependent on pitching to contact to get outs. The strange thing is that on occasion both the curve and changeup are reported to be looking really good. Plus pitch potential. Then they disappear again. So, is it mechanical? Or mental? He was working on a slider this year to give him a solid 3rd pitch. My guess is that Coop already has him learning the cutter as an off-season assignment. So... what can we expect from him this year? Dunno. But if... a big if... he demonstrates consistency in an offspeed pitch and makes progress in the three issues listed above... he could make an impact in 2009. I'm not saying that his success is a given. Not at all. But consider that a year ago this time, most people were saying very similar things about Danks. (Two good pitches... inconsistent changeup... no pitch to throw inside to righties.) What happened? He improved the change and added a cutter. And got some pretty dramatic improvements in results. Let's hope the Sox can make similar changes and progress with JM.