iamshack

Personally, I am not sure I like either of these guys to be an everyday player. But I am still waiting for an answer as to how Nix is suddenly going to begin hitting righties. I don't know how much more clearly this could be stated, and it has been several times. Nix's production came in absolute ideal situations for him. How is placing him in ALL situations going to somehow improve his production, rather than a slight increase in his raw output due to significantly more opportunities?

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 07:21 AM) Are there any other reasons, besides raising money for your county, that there are speed limits? Safety perhaps? Honestly, could you come up with more of a lazy response? Obviously safety is a major concern in terms of policing driving behaviours. My problem is that the way our laws are designed and enforced, we've got asshole cops giving Steve speeders for driving 31 in a 25 while we simulataneously have incompetent retards being absolutely s***ty drivers and endangering my life a hell of a lot more than Steve is. But he is the one who gets the ticket and gets dragged into court to pay fines and waste an entire day of his life. In your 78 years of driving experience, or however the hell old you are, can you honestly tell me that speeding violations are the worst dangers to your safety, as opposed to all the other driving behaviors you've seen people exhibit and NOT get ticketed?

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 10:26 PM) Do u mean we would need to throw in one quality MLB starter to entice the Pads? Not from the starting 4 in the rotation either. No. I mean there are 3 pieces there that I have penciled into my lineup for practically nothing and I don't know that we can afford to move those with the current condition of our system. If we move all those pieces, there is not really another wave of cheap, talented players in our system coming anytime soon.

I would not feel comfortable with this. That is too many low-cost pieces for my taste.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 04:45 PM) If I played in the major leagues my BABIP would be like .050 and I wonder if anyone would call me unlucky, when in fact I really just suck at baseball. You wish...your BABIP would be N/A, because you would never put the ball in play...

It's a shame, too. I met Phillips last December and he's a really smart, good-looking dude. I guess it's just easier for these guys to sleep with these women because they can just take them to their hotel room instead of having to wine and dine them out in public, where they will be discovered...

This s*** happens all over the place, at all successful companies that happen to employ egomaniacs...you just hear about the ESPN personalities because they are famous.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 12:27 AM) The problem with guys like Rice and Morgan (and many ex-athletes in general) is that they tend to be, at best, intellectually lazy. They became wildly-successful by playing the game, but not necessarily studying the game. And like many other celebrities, they feel that their social status lends credence to their uninformed opinions. It doesn't surprise me at all that Theo Epstein, who never played college or minor league ball, has been nothing short of a smashing success as a GM, while Hawk was a complete failure. Oh, and congrats to Gordon. I don't think that he'll win the "real" ROTY award, but it's nice to see his season recognized. That's pretty right on. I'm happy it didn't take baseball forever to realize this either.

QUOTE (Felix @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 10:38 PM) Posnanski is a great writer. I strongly suggest checking out his blog regularly if you liked that. His posts are generally pretty long, but they are almost always very entertaining to read. The comparisons of Rice's statements were too funny...especially the Joe Morgan one...great stuff. I'll bookmark the site. Thanks again.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 09:57 PM) CNN Story Interested in hearing varied thoughts on this. Maybe they needed fewer child-molesting clergymen...

Upon which so many large issues have fallen...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 09:29 PM) Excellent. I only wish it could have been a true long term deal. Well it is still 4 more years after this one, right? A lot can happen in 4 years...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 10:26 PM) I wonder if the Yankees finally successfully buying a world series will wind up helping be a game changer on revenue sharing the next time the CBA comes up. Especially if they're right back next year. The locals may love it, but most of the country is going to be annoyed/turned off of baseball. I heard a discussion of this the other morning on Mike & Mike...they had on Buster Olney I believe, and asked him this question. He said that baseball, as an industry, usually profits from the Yankees winning it every once in a while. However, that the small market clubs are definitely concerned about the Yankees continued ability to sign almost any player they desire. I'm not sure that this is a result of them "buying" a World Series, well, not any more than they have tried to buy one in the past. The fact that they actually may win this year certainly does not make it a wise strategy in the overall scheme of things to spend as much as they do.

Yeah, Harris has been a bust all-around...he simply never returned to the player he was before the injury. Merriman seems to be having the same experience in San Diego.

Yeah, plead not guilty and claim your speedometer said you were going 25. You can also argue that the radar gun was innacurate, as others have said. Honestly, 4.7 mph over the limit is ridiculous, especially since cops ride your ass if you actually drive less than the speed limit. This is just a bunch of horses*** to raise money for the county. The way our traffic laws are designed to work is a complete joke. You can drive like a complete idiot and not get ticketed but be an excellent driver and get these foolish tickets all day long.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 09:32 PM) I 100% legitimately have my roommate convinced that there was a specific reason for choosing the teams for the game in London and it was to showcase to the rest of the world what the US (Patriots) will do if threatened by Pirates (Buccs) in real life because they knew the Patriots are going to kick the s*** out of the Buccs in the game. He is currently searching online to see if its true. I wish I had been recording this because it was gold. Is your roommate 7 years old?

QUOTE (Felix @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 07:06 PM) You might not know how to actually play the game, but that doesn't mean you can't evaluate talent or seasons. Just because Jim Rice played baseball for some 16 years doesn't mean he knows players and talent better than people who have never picked up a baseball. Players are so self-involved that they tend to believe their eyes more than numbers, and frankly that leads to some really stupid things being said. Hell, just look at the new generation of GMs that are getting hired without ever having played the game of baseball. Rather than playing ball, they went to school to get a degree. Does this mean they know less than every GM that is a former player? Of course not. Thanks for linking that. That was very humorous.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 09:15 PM) What happened? I highly doubt it beats the missed blatant call from the Yanks-Twins series and Joe Mauer's "foul ball" but I'm curious to hear it. Yankees had Posada at 3rd and Cano at 2nd. Batter hits a grounder back to the pitcher. Pitcher gets Posada in a run down, runs him back down to third. Cano had advanced to 3rd on the play too. Napoli, Cano, and Posada all seem to see at the same time that Posada and Cano are both at third at the same time. Cano backs off the base, apparently to allow Posada to reclaim it, and Napoli tags him. Posada meanwhile, had overrun the base slightly, and was off the base, and Napoli tagged him out as well. He tagged both runners while they were standing OFF THE BASE. Yet somehow, the umpire allowed Posada to stay at 3rd and only called Cano out. Bizarre.

Mazzone agreed to become the pitching coach for Baltimore because he was very good friends with Sam Perlozzo, the Orioles' manager at the time. When Perlozzo was fired, his successor, Dave Trembley, let go of Mazzone as well. I find it somewhat difficult to pin that on Mazzone, as his theories and instruction seem to be more developmental than minor tweaks and adjustments. Perhaps had Perlozzo worked out and Mazzone been given a chance to work with the system as a whole for several years, his influence might have been more readily recognized...

QUOTE (balfanman @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 02:16 PM) Linebrink was much younger in his San Diego days though. Didn't Linebrink say something to the effect within the last year that his shoulder was not 100%, nor was it ever going to be. I'm thinking that Linebrink can still be an effective reliever, I might even say a key reliever, if Ozzie picks his spots with a little more stinginess. Yeah, but then there are plenty of guys who have been able to make 75-85 appearances a year well into their late thirties. If he does have an injury problem, one which limits the amount of appearances he is able to make, than perhaps you're right, and he should be limited to 50 appearances a year. I'm just curious if he even deserves a spot in the pen though if that is the case (and it is difficult to not put him in there with his $5 million a year salary). What makes me curious about the injury factor though is that he seemed to have the velocity at the end of the year. Does the injury maybe limit his ability or desire to throw breaking pitches?

Considering the talent that Lowe is, and his similarities, in terms of statistics, to Thornton, I would just be curious as to what Soxtalkers would propose in deals that were sending him away. I tend to think we would be asking just as much.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 10:54 AM) Hello everyone; This is my first post (please be gentle) although I have visited this site for years. Let me first state that overall I like Ozzie as a manager and think that he does a good job. That being said, this is one of my "bones to pick". Linebrink is a great example of a reliever that Ozzie goes to much too often, especially early in the year. I realize that games in April and May count just as much as games in August and September, but I think that you need to use your entire bullpen, especially early in the season to not only find out what each reliever is capable of in game situations, but more importantly to pace your top relievers so that they can be effective later on in the season. It seems to me that there are too many games early in the season when we see the same 2 or 3 relievers. Could it be that guys like Linebrink , with their limited physical health are worn down by the time crunch time comes? I know that it would help if you had other quality arms to turn to, but what good is burning out your good arms early. Welcome to Soxtalk! I honestly don't think Linebrink gets overused. It seems as though he was used much more in San Diego than he has ever been used here. Part of the reason he does get lit up here is because Ozzie realizes we do not have a strong bullpen without him being able to contribute, and so he gives him every opportunity to redeem himself, even though Linebrink never seems to be able to do so. Honestly, he is a bit of a mystery to me.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 11:56 PM) Not that I'm trying to doubt you, but I guess I'll wait and see what happens. I just think it's too difficult right now to predict next season's payroll using past history. The club lowered payroll last year in preparation of the economic crisis. If they think the economy will be better next year, at least for baseball, maybe they will put more money back into the team. On the other hand, I know that the contracts of several big advertisers were up after this season. Honestly, I could see the payroll heading in either direction. I think it's a bit premature to automatically assume payroll will remain static or go down. Not that I'm expecting any significant changes. I think they did put more money back into the team when they traded for both Peavy and Rios... I understand what you're saying, but when you add up the numbers, you get the picture...

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 11:25 PM) Listen, PODS is a player and a businessman, but he's also a nice country boy who knows where he feels comfortable. I expect him to get a contract done for a reasonable amount to stay in Chicago. I would normally agree, but I expect some desperate team to offer him something we just aren't willing to go near...

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 11:38 PM) Can I ask how you know we'd have to trade a big contract in order to add one? I really don't have too much insight about the Sox's projected payroll for 2010. I just keep reading people's posts saying we're pretty much maxed out. I'm curious if people have heard something I haven't. It's basically just reading between the lines, using past history as a guide, the personalities of our FO as well as the attendance this year, etc...it doesn't take a rocket scientist...