iamshack

I just find it odd that we would root for the guy only so that he will increase his trade value. I would understand if it was a guy whose ceiling was low and had absolutely no chance to be solid, but that isn't the case here. He has shown the ability to pitch well before, and for sustained periods, so I'll cheer for him to do so for us this season. We need all the help we can get.

I don't understand why it is so difficult to believe that he can regain his form. Why is it assumed that he will stay awful now that he has been awful, but not that he can pitch well when he did in fact pitch well for a while a few years ago? The logic makes little sense to me...

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 30, 2009 -> 05:30 PM) Do we still call that, "pulling a Cora?" I honestly still think Joey did a hell of a job for us....maybe I am just slow and retarded, but it seems like we scored a lot more runs by pushing the envelope than we did with Jeff Cox holding everyone up...

QUOTE (scenario @ Mar 29, 2009 -> 04:43 PM) A swarm of bees causes a delay of game. "Bees!!!! Save yourself. Your fire-arms are useless against them." Oh man, for all the good lines in Tommy Boy, that is by far the most underrated. One of my favorite lines ever...especially when you see and hear how Chris Farley delivered it (may he rest in peace). Great call, Scenario.

QUOTE (scenario @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 09:41 PM) Betemit can really help our team, as long as he never has to bat right-handed. Left-handed? Very good. Right-handed? Brutal. Straightball, I hit it very much. Curveball, bat's afraid...

QUOTE (scenario @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 05:04 PM) I want MacDougal to continue having a very good spring... in the hope that some team will step up and take him off of our hands. I want him to continue having a very good spring....in the hope that he will be a stud for us again...why would we not want him to perform for us?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 05:09 PM) MacDougal having a solid spring, which scares me, because he might win the job (especially being out of options and being paid big money). I'm 90% sure he'll just be the same guy he's been every year but 2006 - lack of control, loads of tools, poor execution and can't handle pressure scenarios. Why bother putting him in there, only to replace him in May with Carrasco or Wassermann anyway? So you're suggesting we cheer against him returning to form and hope he continues to suck so his salary will be wasted? I understand the point you're making, but as long as he is in our organization I am going to continue to hope he can return to form...I don't really see any other way to go about it...

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 13, 2009 -> 05:03 PM) It could and it might just be considering he hasn't gotten a single inning out there this spring and Bill Melton (not the best source of information to say the least) keeps comparing him to Ross Gload. The fact that he's played more 1B than CF tells me the Sox may see him as more of a corner OF/1B type. A Lillibridge/Kroeger CF would be interesting though with 207 total chances in centerfield between them since 2005. Kalapse, just curious...what do you do besides eat, sleep, and have sex with White Sox baseball?

I dunno, I just am not buying the defensive metrics as much as I buy the offensive metrics. I think his range may have been a bit shaky, but considering his speed, and what I assume is a fairly decent ability to move laterally, it seems that with experience, Alexei should improve at 2b due to getting a better feel for the angles and the speed at which the ball gets to him at that position. That being said, from what I've read here, Alexei got worse defensively as the season wore on... Not to be a pure skeptic, but I've seen that many teams are discounting these metrics and beginning to use some far more advanced - so much more so that they are proprietary information and not openly disseminated on the intrawebs. I'm not trying to say all defensive metrics are useless, but they certainly appear to have more holes in them than offensive metrics do... JMHO...

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 05:17 PM) Coke II was basically pepsi IIRC. It did have a sweeter taste, like Pepsi...

QUOTE (G&T @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 05:09 PM) All this time I thought I was the only one who like Crystal Pepsi. I also liked Coke II. I don't know if that makes my opinion more or less credible. You and Balta are the guys they happened to choose when they were test-marketing this stuff (unfortunately for them)...

Don't sleep on White Castles chicken rings, or chicken and cheese sandwiches....they are always my drunken delicacy of choice after a long evening of imbibing adult beverages...

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 05:43 PM) There are no left handed middle infielders anymore (not a single regular at either position last season). It's nearly impossible for a lefty to play 2B so only righties play second. It's incredibly difficult for a left handed fielder to play middle infield, the angles are all wrong so most get moved to the outfield or 1B (with the LARGE majority becoming pitchers). SS is still a more difficult position for a righty, the long throw to first and amount of balls hit in the hole make it much more demanding. Imagine being a lefty and fielding a ball hit in the hole at short, that throw to first in insanely awkward you either have to turn your whole body back to the left or spin around to your right. It's very inefficient. Yeah, I knew it would be easier to play ss as a rh, but wasn't sure if lefties played 2b....Chase Utley must throw rh but bat lh, eh? Yep, just checked, he does.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 04:22 PM) It's a much harder defensive position so logic and history (not a lot of bad 2B make good SS, can't think of any) would say a player isn't going to magically improve with the move to a more demanding position. Does it matter which hand he is? Isn't it easier for a right hander to play ss than 2b? Just curious, I honestly think it should be, but don't know...

QUOTE (daa84 @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 04:05 PM) agreed with all of this. And in fact, the defensive metrics Alexei had at 2b last year suggest he might actually be a BAD shortstop. At least just looking at him at CF IMO is something that needs to be done this ST, even if he doesn't play there come April 6, why not explore the option when CF is such a hole, and it appears that we might have a strong candidate to play SS by June, if not right away. Besides, according to Cubano, Alexei is most experienced playing CF anyways....and Kalapse is exactly right, if he was good enough to start in CF last year, why not this year? I wouldn't say he necessarily "won" the starting CF position last year. He more backed into it by default. He started the first couple games there and then never really returned on a regular basis. And even the morning of the first game, when he was announced as the starter, was a surprise to most. He wasn't good out there last year, and he won't be good out there this year, especially after working at ss all offseason. And honestly, how can you not put your best defensive CF out there if you're going to have Dye and Quentin playing the wrong corner OF position? To me, it is a no-brainer.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 03:49 PM) He was good enough in CF last spring to win the starting job out there. We can't really say he's a good SS either but as of right now it certainly looks like that's where he's going to start the season. I don't KNOW Getz can leadoff, I just know I'd rather see his high contact approach, moderate BB rate, low K rate at the top of the lineup than the atrocious Jerry Owens. Winning the CF job last year is the equivalent to being the tallest midget (that is, if you factor in that Brian was not going to get the job no matter what he did in the Spring). I see your point with this configuration, but I would still rather move Alexei to his supposed "most-natural" or "best" position, start Beckham out at 2b, and put Brian in CF. You could then allow Beckham to lead off, hit Alexei second, and Brian ninth. Either way, I think they are both decent solutions, but I just think our team benefits greatly having Brian manning CF since we insist on playing both Dye and Q out of position....

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 02:53 PM) The funny thing was everyone laughed at Kenny when we had the worst farm system on the planet and he said it would take no time to fix it. It took him all of a year and a half to get it back to respecful, contributing levels. Jeesh, I hate to say I told you (not you in particular) so, but I told you so...

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 10:37 PM) Yep, but it was still for the same reasons. I checked Cot's Baseball Contracts and it has Liriano down for 2.104 years service time, so they probably did it to keep him from accumulating 3 years in 2008 and being arb eligible in 2009. I know an extra arb year may help a team keep a certain player, but that's still pretty bush league IMO and sends the wrong message to the players. Oh, that is exactly why they did it. I was just clarifying.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 09:46 PM) So what have you SEEN out of Gordon Beckham to make you think he won't be able to stick at short? Sure we've all read "reports" but personally I know I'd never base a strong opinion of my own on what someone else has seen. I guess my question about all of this is if Alexei's best position is supposedly ss, why the hell are we going to move him to CF so Beckham can play ss? My view is that a middle infield of Alexei/Beckham with Brian in CF is better all-around (meaning both offensively and defensively, comprehensively) than a middle infield of Beckham/Getz with Alexei in CF. Just my opinion, obviously I'd need to see both scenarios play out...

QUOTE (GREEDY @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 07:56 PM) Ha... as I am sure most people that READ this board understand: All I was doing was pointing out that many people's reasoning for hating Ivan is exactly why they treasure AJ. One poster stated as his only reason for not wanting IRod as: "he is an asshole"; which to me was fairly amusing considering his signature could be mistaken AJ billboard; Who if you polled MLB fans would be the consensus #1 jerk in baseball. I am certain I am not the only one finding the paradox amusing. Too bad some fanboys think this means all I want to do is trash their treasured AJ, when that is far from the truth... they just don't get it. Look, I don't mind the spirited debate, and I am not requiring anyone to be a choirboy, but these threads are not meant to be a safe harbor for insults or a forum to challenge other posters on a personal level. So clean it up.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 06:52 PM) The Twins also tried that s*** with Liriano last year, sticking with Livan Hernandez instead of calling Francisco up when there was no doubt he was ready and better than anyone else there. Liriano either did file a complaint or thought seriously about filing a complaint with the MLBPA. Yeah, but the Twins did it in the middle of the year, as opposed to the beginning of the year, when they did bring him up with the big league team and he got shellacked. So they did give him his shot at the beginning of the year...but you're right, they held him back pretty late when it was clear he was ready down in AAA.

Guys, let's clean this up now or the thread will be locked. The direction this is starting to go isn't good for anyone.

Looks like IRod just made himself a few million bucks tonight...

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 10:24 AM) Juliet is damn beautiful when she is cleaned up. I happen to think she is pretty damned saucy when she's dirty, too...

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 7, 2009 -> 06:52 PM) In today's WBC game they said that he was just looking for anywhere to play, and that he didnt need to be a starter. Or at least thats what they claimed he told them. If that's truly the case, he'll get a job somewhere, unless he's asking for starter money in a backup position. My guess is he and his agent are betting a solid performance in the WBC would increase his odds of both making more money and having an opportunity for more playing time, and thus, he didn't accept any backup offers prior to the tournament. Not much of a risk by my calculations, as an offer would undoubtedly be there in some capacity even had he bombed in the WBC...