Harry Chappas

What I am seeing this year is that a deep solid bullpen, Cliff is a 6th inning/ losing game pitcher and he could close and Cotts is a mop up man. This is more important than a slugging team. I put it this way, I think in today's day and age, Hermanson, Vizcaino and Marte are worth more than Ordonez (Healthy.) As a whole this is how we are going to win because of our pitching. In previous years we lose last night 5-3 and we sit at 5-9 for the season. Oh and how solid is our infield defense. This team is not playing well and they are 10-4, yikes. Pitching and defense my friends wins games. Ask the Twins who outplayed us in two games and lost.

Half price crap will lead to an unbelievable walk up if the weather is good.

QUOTE(Steff @ Apr 8, 2005 -> 10:07 AM) Nope. Mine should've been a color for sarcastic, man has this been covered to death here. Which means I should not have replied but what the hell.

QUOTE(TheBigHurt35 @ Apr 8, 2005 -> 10:00 AM) My bad. Thought they still were. Then who is now? Were they ever????

You gotta remember these guys loved the Royals last year, enough said.

If Bonds was healthy where would Alou play? Wasn't he their RF from the get go? I only browsed through this thread so I apologize if I missed something.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Mar 18, 2005 -> 01:44 PM) What has Davis ever done -- besides being a first round pick -- that makes you think he'll amount to anything more than a backup? Beck said it well -- he can't hit lefties, and we already have a starting catcher who hits righties well. Against tough lefties, I'd much rather throw Burke out behind the plate than Davis... The guy has played in 57 games and is 33 years old, do you risk him being the starter. I don't think he is all that good defensivly on top of it. Throw potential out the window. I want a guy that has almost 500 games experience and is 28 over a guy that has been in 57 games and is 33.

QUOTE(JimH @ Mar 18, 2005 -> 09:36 AM) I think you said it a lot better than I did. One caveat ... it would all depend on what the Sox would get back (in a trade). Right, now put yourself in another teams place. If Ben Davis were still with the Mariners and we neded a back-up catcher, would you trade a viable and productive major league entity (Adkins, Cotts, Harris) for a $1M back-up or for Jaime Burke (B level prospetcs can be given for him.) A team that is not really going to go anywhere (Pirates, Brewers, Royals, Orioles,) are not going to look at Davis they will look at Burke or Widger as a back-up. Teams that will take on Davis are not going to deem him worthy enough to give up ML productive talent. Is Boston going to take on the salary and give up a player they may need during the season. I think Widger and Burke may go for a minor league mid-tier guy with some upside.

Come on, I like Jaime Burke and he does some nice things. He is a third catcher and good option if someone gets hurt, as is Chris Widger. Davis is 5 years younger and has appeared in over 400 more games. Sure Burke fits the OBP mode, mind you he has yet to hit a mjor league home run, but I think you are risking a-lot by getting rid of Davis. There is a reason Burke is 33 and had no relative ML experience before last season. This is also the reason he is willing to do whatever it takes to make the big league club. His defense is nowhere near good enough to keep him around for an other position then catcher. They tried this with Gload in the outfield, athleticism can make up for shortcomings on defense and neither Burke or Gload have this. I think moving Davis would really hurt this team.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2005 -> 07:08 AM) Boy someone needed a column by a deadline. That was the biggest piece of regurgitation yet. Not a new thought to be seen. If you want to read a pretty good piece, I think this is the first time this guy has ever written anything worth reading. Look at Doug Padilla's write-up in the Times today. Not sure if this was his objective but it really shines a great light on Frank. Ole jay has got to be killing himself with no bad pub on this. Here is a nice window for positive PR from the Sox lets hope they don't screw it up. The note that Frank does not want to be associated with Sosa, McGwire and Canseco is priceless.

This could be the greatest day for Frank and be the thing the puts him squarely in the hall of fame without a doubt. The guilt by association thing is great. Having his own venue and time can allow him to be at the front of a nationwide crusade against steroids. THe posterboy for the clean and sober athelete. If he was in Boston or NY he would be all the rave. They showed him on WGN this morning, man the guy is a monster.

Consider it booked, wins over St. Joe (without Frasor), Simeon and Proviso East in the last month. Maybe Bobby Frasor is worth Carolina Blue. QUOTE(Hall of Famer @ Mar 12, 2005 -> 05:16 PM) Brother Rice over Proviso. Book it.

I think you will know well before he retires. If MGwire has any trouble getting voted in this is good, it means steroids is an issue. If McGwire gets in hands down, Thomas may be hurt as those voting are not looking at the steroid issue. Thomas, Sosa, Griffey Palmerio, Bagwell, Juna Gonzalez will be coming due about the same time. I think this will give all of us the indication we will need. In my book 1st ballot Griffey and Thomas, I just like both of them. It will also be interesting to see how Edgar Martinez does, assuming he wasn't on the juice.

QUOTE(Heather Lee @ Feb 11, 2005 -> 01:08 AM) Will that thing even be ready by the start of the season? I drove by Comiskey just this afternoon after work, and, from the left field gate, I couldn't see any extra bars "sticking up" leaving me to wonder what has actually been accomplished at this moment. There were huge steel support beams installed this week. Once they get going it doesn't take long.

De Luca, a baseball moron, actually thought this was a good trade. He also feels that the Sox did not improve. Imagine the lovesfest if they had signed Dye, give me a f***ing break. Take the upside of these players; Hariston has NEVER scored or driven in more than 65 runs. Burnitz was offered one other deal, by the Pirates for god's sake. Sosa has hit over .300, hit over 60 Hr a few times and can drive in >120 runs, is he going to do it, probably not but for the same price as the other two it is worth the risk in acontract year. The Kool-Aid is flowing like never before. The Sun-Times is a complete joke on this matter.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 31, 2005 -> 04:32 PM) So now both MLB.com and whitesox.com are wrong? What difference does it make. LF is the easist of the 3 to play so if he is listed as a RF and we have seen him in center, he shoulsd be fine in LF. As stated numerous times, we will be fine with Pods, Dye, Thomas and Everett vying for three spots in the line-up. We need professional hitters, there is no question, he is that.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 31, 2005 -> 12:13 PM) Was Washington Hated By the British.. Was Lincoln Hated By South... Was MLK hated by the Bigets of America.. Great men are not liked by the Majority when they are trying to change the non-logic of the norm. That post would make sense if we were British, southern bigots, I guess.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 31, 2005 -> 05:47 AM) You just spent these two paragraphs trying to convince me that speed is great. I totally agree with that. Speed is a wonderful, intimidating weapon. Speed kills. But, the stolen base, in and of itself, is overrated. Rickey Henderson, Frank Thomas and Ichiro are the answers to this whole argument. OBP for Frank Thomas or Barry Bonds is overrated because of the chances they will do something greater than draw a walk, they also are not going to steal a base and as Maggs showed us can be easily doubled up on grounders. These OBP guys do not change the pitchers approach and therefore are very overrated. Rickey Henderson hit .220 at the end of his career but had an OBP of close to .400. Pitchers needed to change the way they worked the next hitter, (i.e. more fastballs,) because of the threat of the steal. The hitter behind them had the advantage. I do not know of a measurable stat to look at the advantage to a player hitting behind the run threat. Ichiro is the final example. He has a great average but with an OBP that is not what it should be. He also has speed and has the best bat control in all of baseball. At the end of the day his OBP is a nonissue. OBP can be used to make average players help their team do great things as well has make great players become more ordinary in certain cases. Either way the defense is on guard when speed is in the box and that player has teh ability to use that speed to affect the defense (unlike Willie Harris.)

My guess is that the contract is very similar to the Jared Wright contract with the Yankees. A-lot of voidable stuff for days on the DL and little guarantees. My bet on the surprise team for sosa, the Rangers.

QUOTE(mreye @ Jan 27, 2005 -> 08:27 AM) 1. I agree 2. I agree 3. I agree 4. I disagree. I think he's been brainwashed by a slick sonofab**** in Scott Boras. That's it. Apparently these guys don't have (or aren't aloud by Boras) anyone else around them to get advice from. Brainwashed? He switched agents last winter to get himself into a position to run alongside Beltran this winter and get every last penny he could. He had two agents that he must've felt were not getting him everything he is worth. Well it was a terrible error in judgement on Maggs part but I do not feel he has been misled or givin bad advice. He is grown man as are all of the others that deal with Boras, they have a choice and they make it and everything cries for them.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:19 AM) Especially here. Just stamped my final payment.. Ditto. Not as painful to write the check after this offseason.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 12:24 PM) If I were the Tigs GM I would be willing to offer him a 40/4 deal contingent upon his being able to play everyday in ST. None of this workout, physical crap. If he wants that kind of money he needs to show me he can play this year. So it would main a tentititve agreement until ST ends. My feelings are that he will sit this entire year. Any team taking the risk will want to be rewarded if he is healthy, not the Boras style. Wasn't he suppossed to work out at the winter meetings a month ago? We're still waiting for this workout. Any team would be foolish to offer anything more than $1M of $2 guaranteed. If I were a GM I would offer $3M for next year and two team options the following years at $8M each. Again, not the Boras style.

I am viewing all of this with guarded optimism. The 2003 team, I felt was the best in baseball. Since then I am know we have changed philosophy and team make-up. Both of these things I like. The problem there are a-lot of pieces that we are nto sure of. It will take these key pieces to dtermine our fate. Staying Healthy - Rotation, the lose of one guy is major. Also Dye, Everett, and Thomas. Attitutde - Is the clubhouse mood downgraded by Pierz and Harris? Loss of Lee and Ordonez a positive or negative? MANY MANY foreign players with vast background (2 Japanese, 2 Cubans, Various latino.) Production - Questions marks abound for Contrearas, Hernandez, Shingo, Vizcaino, Hermanson, Crede, Uribe, Pods, new 2B, Rowand, Politte, and Adkins/Cotts. The only sure things we have are Garcia, Buerhle, Marte, Garland and Konerko. I am optimistic and I like the intent the results are a whole other animal. we shall see.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Jan 19, 2005 -> 10:44 AM) Look out for the marlins as a sleeper team on Maggs. If they don't end up with delgado, I could see them benching or turfing encarnacion in favor of maggs. They saw a hole in the market two years ago with Pudge, maybe they will see one now with magglio. I year 8-10 sounds about right. $8-$10M for a guy that can not even jump???? When healthy he was not strong enough to carry the same intensity for an entire season. My feeling is that he will sit out all year and hope to make a splash next season where a workout could get him a good deal for the entire season. 8 months off an injury and not even close to returning.

Was the coverage for Soxfest as good as for the cub convention. This is totally sour grapes but the Mark Buerhle White Sox Christmas hand out was hardly covered but now we get the daily cub good deeds for the next three days. There has to be a contingency of reports awaiting the landing and arrival of Santo and the new television announcers arrival as well. I now I let this piss me off way to much but it does. There will be a Mariotti article talking about the good things this team has to offer (i.e. Nomar, how they don't let their players go to arbitration, etc,) then of course a negative one about Sosa, with this being the reason they couldn't sign anyone.