Dick Allen

Shocking how many people thought Masset, despite how brutal he was last year, was worth keeping. Many thought he could be a viable starting pitcher, of course it was based on one game in 45 degree weather with the wind howling in. I too, believe there's a decent chance Masset could clear waivers but I really don't think that's the issue. The White Sox need a lamb. Wasserman can't go 3 innings or 4 innings in 3 days. They tried to stretch Thornton recently, but saw that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Wasserman didn't lose a competition with Masset. His being sent down has a lot more to do with Danks and Floyd not being relied on to give you consistent innings and the fact that the bullpen is loaded with 1 inning guys. Maybe they send Wasserman down and have him work on getting stretched out, or leave him as is and if there is an injury or poor performance he can come up. This has everything to do with Masset being able to give you multiple innings, maybe not quality innings, probably not quality innings, but they need someone who could save a couple of guys some days, and Masset was that guy by default.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 29, 2008 -> 05:32 PM) I at least am consistent on my views and have not wavered. You however, it just really depends on if the player is on your good side. You take small amounts of success and use it for hope, and just ignore years of mediocrity for your guy. But when posters on here post something positive about their guy, you come in as the poster of reason to crap on them doing the same thing. And the best thing is you use the opposite reasoning for their player. X player on played good against Y teams, but has been bad forever. Forever overrules the recent success. Yet if the player is Uribe, its I have a good feeling about him and he is talented. Sure whatever. Name 1 player I have ever wavered on? Just one.

QUOTE(Elgin Slim @ Mar 29, 2008 -> 05:12 PM) Jose's fastball is in the mid 80s, unless the ESPN gun is off. He's going to get killed if that's where his fastball is. I'm surprised he's kept the Mets off the board so far. Maybe he's going through his dead arm period. No wait, Gavin Floyd has that excuse copyrighted.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 29, 2008 -> 05:02 PM) You predict success based on a panic that the checks will stop and he will be motivated like he was in 04. 04 the only year he had success, as a role player. You know that baseball is filled with guys who look like allstars in limited action, yet get exposed over the course of a year. Uribe is one of them. He is a lazy, all or nothing guy who will hit about the same year in and year out. The fact that he had to battle into the last month just to overcome Brian Anderson in 06 for BA is horrible at best. He is Pedro Serrano who happens to play SS. But please keep up with your delusions. I'm delusional, yet a good portion of your posts spout off about Greg Walker "teaching" hitters "lift and pull".

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 29, 2008 -> 04:51 PM) Yet you take 50 to 60 abs in spring training to dictate his performance over the hundreds of ABs over the past few years. I'm basing it on his talent, and the fact that he has been successful in the past. I actually predicted his success well before spring training. I base nothing on this spring, but I do give him kudos for earning the job. 2004 he wasn't too shabby, and for stretches every year he was just as good as anyone at his position. My projecting Uribe for possible success is based on a lot more than what people base future stardom for Josh Fields on or Alexei Ramirez.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 29, 2008 -> 04:25 PM) Uribe starting his annual shedding of any resemblance of a patient hitter. He will start to open up, swing for the fences and then the traditional crappy hitting begins. He actually took a couple of pitches. Ignore a couple of other guys whiffed as well. Use that AB as proof positve Uribe will be crappy.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 28, 2008 -> 05:33 PM) Not true at all. Rain delays, a starter having a bad day, getting hit by a line drive. There are TONS of reasons that you may need a long man. Sometimes you want to burn a game so you can be at full strength next game. When you have relievers with a history of injuries, and your pen is full of specialists, you need someone to flat out eat innings. Is Masset the guy? No, but we need someone to do it. I can't believe I actually agree with Rock Raines.

Navarro and Snyder for Eldred and Valentin was a great trade. I don't think Bonilla for DeLeon was that bad. They got Bonilla for nothing and DeLeon turned into the One Dog.

Crede fouled a ball off his foot today and was supposed to have x-rays. The Sox think its nothing, and actually its his ankle.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 27, 2008 -> 05:55 PM) I like that Fields actually hits the ball to the right side without weakly popping it up to the 2nd basemen.l Yeah, that Fields is quite the handler of the bat.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Mar 27, 2008 -> 05:55 PM) Excuse me, but I rather see an undeserving pick not sign than an undeserving pick take money playing time away from the organization. He probably got no bonus, so the money he received is next to nothing, and I'm sure if there was a player down there they thought was better and had a real shot, Oney would be riding the bench. There was zero chance the other 2 would not be wasted picks. Oney is probably 10,000,000 to 1 but as Lloyd Christmas would say,"you're saying there's a chance"

Nick Swisher is the guy I think the Sox could get the most for right now. Jenks could net a lot, but he has arbitration looming.

As far as Oney goes, yeah he blows but at least he signed. Carrie Schueler wasn't going to be signed and KW's son was drafted but not signed. Wasted picks. There were several players drafted after Carre Schueler who played MLB. In fact, the Sox drafted 3 or 4 of them.

QUOTE(daa84 @ Mar 27, 2008 -> 03:13 PM) haha andy gonzalez just hit a grand slam for the indians I think he has 4 or 5 homers this spring and about 8 hits.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 27, 2008 -> 02:34 PM) I can see why they gave him the shot - he has some talent, he's out of options... but ultimately, if they decide the team needs a long reliever / sixth starter type guy, probably better to just bring up Haeger or Broadway anyway. Despite the overall lack of talent in the minor league system, the Charlotte team will have a few decent starting pitchers on it. One or two of them are likely to become something good. I think KW would rather keep those guys in Charlotte to begin with. Maybe Ohka or maybe scouring the waiver wire.

Losing Masset wouldn't be a huge loss. He's basically being handed a job he has yet to earn and he still can't do anything with it.

QUOTE(ptatc @ Mar 27, 2008 -> 02:24 PM) Since Swisher's main quality for getting on base is walking and he doesn't run real well, there will be a lot of double plays from those three. Other than the 30-40 times out of 600 they hit the ball out of the park. Not if "Cabrera does his job.

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QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 27, 2008 -> 09:41 AM) Yet some people are read to annoint Dotel as our bullpen's saviour. Dotel has always been brutal in spring training though.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 27, 2008 -> 09:35 AM) The better solution to that may have been to keep Masset and Wassermann, and send MacDougal down to AAA or trade him (if that was possible). MacDougal hasn't given up a run in over 3 weeks.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 10:14 PM) I think a reasonable idea about why none of these folks appeared in the first book is that the first book was him actually telling the stories he knew and the next few books are him trying to cash in more based on being proven right on the first one. I don't think he's capable of that elaborate of a plan. This guy is a plate head. I bought his first book, but he'll never get another dime from me. He hasn't played MLB since 2001. Its time for him to go away.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 09:25 PM) I just watched a clip of an interview of Canseco on ESPNews, and he said that when he watched Clemens before Congress, he thought that Clemens looked honest and sincere. Was he watching the same press conference I was watching? In Peter Gammons column a month or so ago, he reported the first draft of Canseco's book had a little piece about Clemens at the now infamous party they claim he didn't attend. That got taken out of the book. I wonder how big of a check the Rocket had to write for that. I still wonder why he wouldn't have had something on ARod in his first book. He's the biggest name in the game. Maybe he was still trying to get something from him.

QUOTE(almagest @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 07:51 PM) He's gone from nasty early on to awful lately and it's starting to worry me. Dotel has been horrible in spring training every year since 2003. His ERA combined is 6.80.

QUOTE(scenario @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 09:47 PM) Do you know what strikes me as funny? A month ago nobody would have been surprised if Ozzie chose Swisher to play CF. In fact, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. KW and Ozzie have been saying it since they acquired him. And a month ago, 99% of posters would have volunteered to drive Brian to the airport to ship his *** out of town. But Brian had a good month in spring training and all of a sudden, Swisher in CF is a horrible idea; and Brian not being handed CF is a travesty. Interesting. I understand Anderson not being handed a regular job even though they handed him one in 2006 under tougher circumstances when he showed less than he has this spring. I just don't understand when he's in the game why he would be in LF and Swisher in CF. That makes zero sense.

If Ozuna starts at 2b on opening day and Quentin plays LF, the 3 hottest hitters in spring training, Uribe, Anderson and Ramirez all will be riding pine. That's pretty strange, but not as strange as seeing Nick Swisher in CF and BA in LF on occassion. That's just ridiculous. I am glad Swisher is leading off though. The more guys on base for Thome and Konerko and Dye, the better.