TheChrisSamsa

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 26, 2011 -> 03:37 PM) Pretty damn good? He's been about league average the last three years [think Bronson Arroyo] and is the epitome of inconsistency. Javy Vazquez with slightly worse stuff. I think it's Edwin's ceiling that gets people excited, if he performs as well as the flashes he has shown, he'll be a damn good pitcher. The 2008/2009 Edwin Jackson is the guy who people are excited about. Edwin Jackson is an extremely good option as the #5 pitcher in the rotation.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 26, 2011 -> 03:38 PM) Did this really warrant its own thread? I think the desperate state of the Yankees starting pitching warrants its own thread. The fact that they're even sniffing around Bartolo Colon is a story.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4312989 After this article, Bartolo did pitch one last time for the White Sox on July 24, 2009.. but if I remember correctly, he disappeared again shortly after. The Yankees now have pitchers Bartolo Colon and Brian Anderson on their roster. Scary thought that they could both pitch in the big leagues at any point this upcoming year.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jan 25, 2011 -> 12:54 PM) Thats why you marry a Jewish girl! There's a lot more effort that would go into that!

I'm under the impression that they begin shipping in early March. That said, I can't wait! This is the first season that I'll get that beautiful package in the mail. I'm extremely excited!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 25, 2011 -> 06:59 AM) Good for you. The weekday plan has some nice opponents this year. And any woman that will forgo Christmas gifts to land Sox tickets is a keeper. We figure we'll sell both Cubs games and atleast one of the two Yankees games to fund some weekend games with friends or our playoff deposit. I'm looking forward to seeing teams like the Dodgers and Nationals, and of course the home opener against the Rays. I'm just hoping we can make it a yearly deal, I have a feeling I'll have an ever growing amount of convincing to do to pull it off again.. But Christmas presents are such a hassle!

I can honestly say that I've bought in on this "All In" campaign. My future wife and I skipped Christmas presents for each other this year and we purchased the weekday 27-game ticket package, shortly after the Dunn/PK/AJ signings. Maybe our two seats in section 531 will make a difference in a mid-season move.. We've made it to 10-12 games a year over the past 3 seasons It's really become how we spend our summers, so we decided to make it official with the season ticket package and we paid the parking up front at the discounted rate.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 06:07 PM) haha, I'm not a huge ESPN fan either, but they did give Latos a lot of credit in 2010. I actually like ESPN generally, but I wish they'd spread their coverage out more. They're great with the AL and NL East, pretty solid with the Central divisions, but they really fall off with the West in baseball and football. I believe you that they covered Latos, I just must not have seen it. I'd go as far as to say that the Padres rotation will be underrated going into this season. Latos, Richard, Stauffer, Luebke and LeBlanc should hold it down pretty well, especially in Petco.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 05:57 PM) well if you were going to point out ESPN's coverage over JJ, then I'll point it out about Latos, they and MLBN gave him a ton of pub last year I know I saw Harold Reynolds stroking Latos's work on MLBN but I don't remember seeing much on ESPN.. I didn't even know they covered the Western divisions of baseball!

What about a guy like Mat Latos getting the underrated tag? He was a phenomenal pitcher in 2010. Is he under rated or unknown? Do people know about him or is he flying under the radar? I watched a lot of Padres games because he was a joy to watch pitch. I'd ask the same question about Carlos Santana, he was having a phenomenal year behind the plate after he got called up and then he got his knee blown out on a play at the plate.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 10:54 AM) Here's my top 5 underrated players, in no particular order... 3. Jason Vargas Happy to see someone else around here is paying attention to him. His home/road splits leave something to be desired, but when he's in Seattle, he's a damn good pitcher.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 10:37 AM) I'll go with Josh Johnson at #1, he gets talked about on MLBN and ESPN a little, but to me he and King Felix are the best pitchers in their respective leagues. ESPN was ready to hand a co-cy young award to Johnson and Ubaldo in the first half of the 2010 season. Johnson's a perfectly well known commodity. McCann too, he's regarded as one of the best offensive catchers in the majors. I'd be on the fence to say Zimmerman is underrated, he doesn't get the credit he deserves because he plays on terrible teams, but I think he's a known threat by most baseball fans. Choo and Soria are certainly underrated.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 19, 2011 -> 02:16 PM) A few. We do play the Tigers 18-19 times a year. And he's bad. His ERA, which is already mediocre, is eclipsed by his FIP and xFIP by a considerable amount. His rate stats are all below average, aside from his BB/9, which is only marginal all things considering. He's surrendered almost 80 HRs the last three years. And that's pitching for a team that plays in a pitcher-friendly park. And the funny thing is, his BABIP two of the last three years has been WAYYYYYYYYY below league average despite the below average peripherals. So he's actually been sorta lucky. In our park with an inferior defense, a 5+ ERA would be a foregone conclusion. Agree to disagree. I watched a lot of Tigers games and he held his own. I understand the stats, but my eye test showed me that he has more potential than he's shown.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 19, 2011 -> 02:07 PM) As a big Foo fan, I'd have to disagree. Since The Colour and The Shape it was sort of downhill, but if you haven't given Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace a few spins, you should. That album is their best work front to back, I believe. Echoes is definitely their best work since Colour, but there's something about that spotless 90's rock production and tone that brings The Colour And The Shape to the top of my list. That record would make my top 5 of all time though, so it's hard to give any of their other work the right frame of mind. I always find myself saying "it's great, but it's not as good as The Colour And The Shape." It's the catch 22 of an album hitting the right spot in the right point in my life and knowing that it'll be nearly impossible for them to do that again.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Jan 19, 2011 -> 12:28 PM) Foo Tease Yes, I'm stoked. Sounds like the boys are getting back to a little 'harder' sound, I can't wait. I feel like the Foo Fighters peaked with The Colour and The Shape. Everything since then has been very good, but that album is phenomenal.

I just ran across the new album from The Script, really good stuff. I'm not sure if it's out in the US yet, but it's out there in the inter-webs if you're into finding music that way.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 19, 2011 -> 01:29 PM) NOTHING about Galarraga is pretty. That's what some aren't seem to be comprehending. He's a bad pitcher. We've got guys under contract now that can be bad for us and cheaper. No need to go out and spend over 2 million on another bad pitcher for a handful of starts. I disagree that he's as bad as you're making him out to be. Did you actually watch any games that he pitched last year (not trying to be condescending, actually curious)? There are many worse pitchers in the game. That's all. I think he'd be a better brand of "bad" than Lucas Harrell or running through the whole pen every 5 days or any other career AAAA player the White Sox have in the system. The chances of him landing in with the Sox are slim anyway, but I'd be content with snagging him as an insurance policy.

Galarraga went 5+ innings in 18 games last year, 6+ in 12 of those. For a 5th starter type guy who wouldn't even be expected to start the whole season, that's pretty good. His record wasn't pretty, but I'd rather have him at 2.3 mil than Tony Pena putting up 15+ starts.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 07:26 PM) Wouldn't mind him as our emergency starter. Couldn't we just get Freddy for cheaper though? I'm gonna bet freddy lands a deal worth $4-$5 million, maybe with some incentives.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2011 -> 12:44 PM) It's not really a steal, they're just buying out his arbitration years. They might save a million or two overall compared to what he would have gotten if he'd gone to Arb all 3 years. Whether or not it's a bargain, it gives the Reds fiscal stability, knowing what they'll be paying for him for the next 3 years. Now Votto is a set-price commodity that they can build around.

http://marksheldon.mlblogs.com/archives/20...-year_deal.html

QUOTE (Tex @ Jan 15, 2011 -> 10:14 PM) I think Frank should equal about 0 as far as media. No positive points, but no negative. I thought we had started discussing players in general. Sorry if I confused anyone. But can Frank get in on the first ballot with a media wash when guys like Maddux and Ken Griffey Jr are +100?

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 15, 2011 -> 02:27 PM) Completely off topic, but Buster Olney's blog reminded me of this. How sweet would it be if Nick Swisher never existed, and we had Gio Gonzalez back? We would have a pretty awesome rotation of Peavy-Buehrle-Danks-Jackson-Floyd-Gio. That's 6 very solid starters. I think Gio Gonzalez will haunt the White Sox more than guys like Clayton Richard, Brandon McCarthey and Daniel Hudson and if I recall correctly there wasn't much of an uprising when he got traded. Also.. would the White Sox have traded for Jackson if Gio were still on the staff? The rotation last season probably would have looked like this: Buehrle-Danks-Floyd-Peavy-Gio. Maybe they still would have snagged Freddy for insurance, and then Daniel Hudson would have continued to wait in the wings. That would be some serious depth at SP. I doubt Kenny would have bothered moving Hudson for Jackson at that point. Back on topic: I want nothing to do with Joba, especially as a closer. I just don't think he has it in him, whether he's on the Yankees or anywhere else.

Monday... I've never heard anyone have a case of the Sundays.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 14, 2011 -> 05:57 PM) Mucho Appreciated.