Harry Chappas

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 07:15 PM) If Gold Glove means misreading fly balls in the 9th inning or hitting the pitcher's mound with every throw home, then Rowand should have been a Gold Glove winner in 2005. I love it when you analyze.

QUOTE(RibbieRubarb @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 03:54 PM) Who paid for the hotel room? John Shurholtz

Not caring about a season is weird I actually do not even pay attention to it.

I think the gist of the whole argument has to do with selection and signability. With the #1 pick the White Sox can select an impact guy that is signable as well. They will shy away from the Jared Weaver's and JD Drew's as will 20 other teams. I am not sure if this is right or wrong but they will have the highest revenue stream of any tema in front of them unless Houston or San Fran pass them. Therefore they may still have a look at Alvarez or another player that is expecting big bucks but they can weigh the cost with the reward better at 1, 2 or 3 as oppossed to 10. There is no right or wrong view here but he discussion should end in a little over a week thank god.

No NL team should lose more than 90 games. If the cubs get hot they could really f*** the Sox as they play Florida and Pittsburgh.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 10:13 AM) No. That's a cute way to disparage Podsednik but he has a lot of male fans at the cell and the place goes nuts for him. Sure, there are a lot of teenage girls who like him but a lot of guys have Podsednik shirts and jerseys at the ballpark. It's kind of a weird phenomena. Chicago is different not necessarily more stressful nor are the media and fans as harsh as Phillie or New York but it is different. Sosa was a god and Thomas was a jerk. The reality of the two players is that the treatment should have been much different. I am not exactly certain what it is but I believe that Chicago baseball fans are either well informed or they are the....."chic to been seen fan" who feel they should boo whenever something happens they do not like. A player dogging it or being an asshole should be boo'd. Ryan Dempster blowing one save after 14 straight successful apperances should not. Cory Patterson was boo'd because of expectations. That is the situation as it sits with Chicago. The Chicago media fans this stupidity with their uninformed flip flopping. The casual fan relies on this information to a large degree to get a sense of a player. Somebody like Bobby Jenks should be an icon in this city as well as Mark Buerhle, Derek Lee and Aramiz Ramirez yet Carlos Zambrano is the highest paid of all of them. The baseball scene is really weird and I beleive it is the media spin that creates it. Simply put, why Sox fans boo Frank Thomas is a mystery to me and why cub fans turned on Sosa so quickly is the same.

I look like Eddie Einhorn with better glasses and a more stylish yet inexpensive wardrobe. When unshaven I am often confused with the Skipper from Gilligan's Island and when exercising and wathcing my weight I resemble to a modest degree Denzell Washington. I gaze often into the mirror and think I lookl ike either Jet LI or Jackie Chan. Please feel free to come up and say hi if you see me at the ballpark.

This team needs its all-stars to be all-stars. The Indians went into the season with the same questional players at second and third and a worse outlook in the pen as the Sox will have next year. If the players that are paid to produce produce and there is more health they will be fine. They need to sign some bench players that can produce for modest salaries not the Mackowiak's of April and May and Alex Cintron of the whole season. I feel the entire division will regress next year and if the Sox make some moves, they will be right back near the top. I think A-Rod and Rowand sit atop their shopping list along with a couple of Japanese players.

What exactly does the anti-trust thing do for MLB? I hear about it all of the time but never really get what it is.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 18, 2007 -> 09:03 AM) The point that you was so easily missed is that slumps during rookie years happen. They happen to some of the best hitters around. Using a rookie year slump as a disqualifier of future preformance is short sighted at best. Also if you really want to nitpick, Robin had way less of a resume when he came up to the majors. He had one season at AA, and that was it. He numbers were less than impressive. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/v/robin-ventura.shtml Fields numbers pretty much blew away Ventura's minor league numbers at every stop Josh had in the minors, and he also got about 1000 ABs down there. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/F/Josh-Fields-1.shtml Wasn't Ventura the college baseball player of the decade and the second best (Ty Griffin was #1 according to he cubs) positional prospect when he was drafted? His resume gave him the credabiltiy and he was rushed a little more but the comparison is there. I feel 3B is a fairly easy position until you get to the majors where you then need to become acclimated see Crede and Aramiz Ramirez.

An awesome HOF class would be Thomas, Thome and Griffey (He would have to play longer than the other two). With my luck Sosa would end up replacing one of the three. The ballot process adds some level of degree of greatness to the status of the player and I kind of like it. Character does mean a lot and will keep Albert Belle and hopefully Sosa out, it will help Thome but Thomas it will hurt.

The MLB clip is awesome Hawk, walk-off before he would have had to do it on the raod. Wife Dad Jenks (how many closer's would've done that) and Dye carrying him off the field. Awesome.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2007 -> 11:26 AM) It would probably be insane for him not to be on the phones right now. The 20 GM's not going to the playoffs don't just take this month off because they're not allowed to make a deal...you're lining up what you might be able to do now so that you can decide things like "Who's option do I pick up" during the 10 days or so after the series you have to make those decisions. I would bet all GM's even those in contention are talking as much now as ever. KW was working to deal while the playoff run was going on. I would guess July laid some groundwork and things are known, hence the Dye extension. I think it would be foolish to not stop working and hope things work out in the offseason.

QUOTE(Yossarian @ Sep 14, 2007 -> 12:05 PM) Then you love incessant cloudiness. You're right about Pittsburgh. A unique city, with a quirky personality and a great sports tradition going way back. There are probably more great athletes in more sports from SW PA than any other part of the country. The names and the numbers are astounding. If prices were right the middle market towns in the midwest would flourish as was the case in the 60'sand 70's. The entertainment dollar is not spread as thin in these towns. South Beach or Joe Robie for a Marlin game? Baseball in the midwest in summer is what the game is all about not Yankee Pride, Red Sox Nation, or Loveable Losers. Off the top of my head from 1975-85 were there any better franchises than the Brewers, Cardinals, Pirates, Tigers, or Royals? Granted the Tigers are having a reinassance but the Cardinal owners seem to have shyied away from spending money and a Brewer or Royal run could kill that franchise. Hell the rollar coster that is the Twin organization could (as soon as next year when Hunter and Nathan are gone if something steller is found with trading Santana) fall back to the days of the late 90's. I hate the economics of baseball with a passion but I love a 1-0 game so I guess I am an exception to the rule. This chick hates the long ball.

If Tampa takes a position player no matter how great it is over an A rated pitcher they should be dismantled. Another bat would be great for them but at some point they need pitching of some sort. They are the anti-White Sox when it comes to drafting it seems. Let's hope it pans out being the reason the Trialblazers took Sam Bowie instead of Jordan with the Sox getting the better end of the deal.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 12:13 PM) Okay, this is the last time I talk about Schuerholz unless the Braves and specifically the Braves offseason is mentioned -- but when Schuerholz was with the Royals and they were a classy, well-respected organization with a recent world title win, he wasn't particularly happy due to a change in ownership so he was chatting with friends about what franchises in baseball had a great deal of potential if only someone came in and fixed them. Atlanta was the main one they mentioned, with Texas the other, and then he spoke to the man doing the hiring who said, "s***, you're interested in leaving for Atlanta? Why? That place blows!" and he said, "I think I can turn it around." He did. Kind of cool. I sort of wish Rick Hahn would leave for Pittsburgh and make that the next powerhouse. The Pirates are a good franchise with a great history and a beautiful ballpark in a lovely city, so I hope they eventually have an owner and management that are capable and willing to win. I've just always thought that the idea of leaving a good situation for a shaky one was one of the more interesting aspects of Schuerholz' move to Atlanta. But yeah, it's nice to have Hahn around. Would suck if he or Terry Ryan wound up on the northside of Chicago, though. Who did Shurholtz replace in Atlanta? The economics of the game have changed in that there are teams that will never really compete. The poster children for this, Oakland and Minnesota seem to be falling by the wayside. 1989 and 2007 are not comparable when it comes to discussing the abilitiy of a franchise. Deep pockets helped Shurholtz keep the franchise on top as did three pitchers for Beane. Now that these things have passed, their abilities to GM need to be displayed again. I do not believe Saben, Theo and Cashman are good GM's because they can fail on a decision and there are no long term ramifications. The poster boy for this Jim Hendry. I really believe Dave Dombroski (a Chicago White Sox product) is the best GM of the last 20 years.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 03:26 PM) Would anyone be against the Sox trying to trade for Hall and moving him back to SS? He's coming off a down season and isn't great defensively but I still think he'd be a superior upgrade over Uribe (and when he's at his best he's a darn good player. I don't know what the Brewers would ask but I'd be all for it. He refused a long term deal had a great year got the longe term deal and now he is wetting the bed. I am not sure how much he is signed for but it may not be a bad idea if the contract price is low enough....Contrearas????

7-4 let's see if Derrick Turnbow can get himself out of it. I think Estrada may have had the right idea.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 02:08 PM) I can't f***ing stand Ned Yost. How in the hell does he let Jenkins face the lefty out of the bullpen? Grabow is much tougher on lefties, and Jenkins hits only .233 against LHP. Does Yost not know he has an expanded roster? The Brewers deserve to lose this game after that atrocious managing in the 8th inning. Ned Yost should really be fired he makes Guillen look like Casey Stengal. Bill Hall is bad Turnbow walks two, in the top of the inning Tracy saw his guy couldn't throw a strike and he pulled him. Yost left his guy out there to give up the run and most likely cost him the game. Is this guy choking in the pennnant run or what . wow

I didn't realize Marte was having that good of a season. Looking at the schedule, the Brewers need to beat the bad teams. Corey Hart super clutch there and they need to bring him home.

The White Sox mailed this season in around the end of June. Despite the popular notion that they were competing to win, I call bulls***. The minute Erstad and Podsednik got hurt the Sox should have been on the phone to try and get Loften type stop gap if they were serious. Any analysis of this season in my eyes in realtion to veteran players ended about that time. They realized they had nothing to play for. In April the notion was that Cleveland, Minnesota and Detroit were all going ot win 90 games. First off, that is almost statistically impossible secondly those teams had and still have some major holes as well. Maybe not as large as the White Sox but there are bullpen issues, positional issues and rotation issues with each. While Bonderman, Miller and Verlander were annointed the roation of the future, two of three have spent time on the DL. Cliff Lee and Westbrook are not the pitchers they were believed to be (see Steve Phillips on this) and who knows how Lariano will come back. That is something the Sox rotation has had only happen once in three years and that was Contrearas last season for a couple of weeks. The proven health and track record of the rotation is a strength not many GM's can rely on that KW can going into the offseason. This heatlth extends deep into the minors in regard to starting pitching and trading options. Floyd is 24 and has been inconsistent but some team (Pittsburgh, Florida, Washington, Tampa Bay, etc.) can make this trade as pointed out earlier. Teams like the Braves are out of contention in a National League that is disgustingly bad. The Braves put out a couple pitchers this season that were worse than Floyd, as have the Cardinals. At 24 he has the upside and injury history that teams will bank on as oppossed to signing Kip Wells to a $5M/yr deal or somethign like that. I guess the rose colored glasses may be in place but i am not going ot write this team off for next year as I think they need a bench coach, Hall to get healthy and an infusion of some middle of the road talent to get back into it as I think the AL Central will come back to them a little.

I put Floyd and Danks in the same category. I am not exactly sold on Danks or Floyd neither has electric stuff but if they throw strikes and learn how to work hitters they could be 3/4 guys. The begining of their careers mirror that of Jon Garland who is a 3/4 guy. I find it amazing how people will give up so easily on 24 year pitchers. I could see if there were health issues but he appears to be a guy that can give you innings.

Ankiel 2 K's already today. Maybe his mental state is so fragile that this could put him away for good. To bad kind of, he certainly made a splash as a hitter and pitcher. Of cousre I could care less just that he could help knock the cub out of contention with a good week here.

Who was on the better end of these deals? I'd give them credit if they released this guys to make a point but they traded them away and got equal return. Glaus was a salary dump and they got a pretty good return in Hudson. Wasn't Grimsley still active on their roster when he was arrested?

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 7, 2007 -> 12:03 PM) Uh, we were brilliant early in 06/05. We've been cruddy late. I agree that we need to change many ST things, but "they have struggled early" doesn't sound right, per se. They struggled early this year but I'd say they did more than struggle early. They met the expectations that many, many people, from BP to people here, set for them. They actually didn't struggle until late May when Erstad got hurt/cub series. Weren't they 7 over at the time due to the lights out bullpen and starters? The polar opposite to the JM days.