iamshack

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 03:40 PM) Even with Owens, I think he has a shot to have his value go up quite a bit this season even if he and Anderson are treated as basically platoon partners. Owens hasn't put up a full season of the sort that will convince other teams that he can be a legit leadoff hitter. Let's just say, hypothetically, he could put up a .280 average, a .350+ OBP, and 50 or so steals in 400 at bats. Numbers which are at the high end of his performance but certainly by no means out of the question. Look what we gave up for Scott Podsednik on a down season. I think we're actually in a position of luxury. If all 4 of these guys make it, then next offseason, we're trading from a position of strength. Yes, we'd need to trade one. But we'd have 4, maybe 5 guys that we could choose between on who we wanted to move. We could move a cheap guy, keep the vets, and go for more of a power team with a ton of youth still permeating the field thanks to the young IF's, or we could move one of the Vets and try to bring back a major piece like a pitcher. If one of these guys blows up, we're in a position where we don't need to play them as they each have options. Right now I think that there's little downside to holding all of them and trying to work all of them in as the season progresses. Well, IF Owens does do that, he won't be traded, which means you've got to move Anderson or Quentin. Given that I truly believe both of them have much higher upsides than Owens, I think we would only hurt ourselves by dealing one or both of them. I understand where you're coming from, but I think you're not factoring in the psychological effect of putting Anderson and/or Quentin in Charlotte might have on them. Especially BA. If it were me, I would stick with what I truly believe in, which is that Quentin will be a very good player, thus affording me the ability to trade Owens at the very least and possibly Konerko as well. However, as we have said many times, there does not appear to be much of a market for Konerko outside of the Yankees, and I can't imagine getting any of their top 3 young pitchers for him. You'd probably get Austin Jackson and change. It's definitely a tough situation, but it's one I would operate with confidence from. Owens would be gone, BA would start the season in CF, Quentin would go to Charlotte along with Richar and Ramirez, with Quentin being the first one called up should Thome/Konerko/Dye suffer an injury.

QUOTE(JoeCoolMan24 @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 02:46 PM) I feel bad for Quentin, he is now the buried player. OF is Swisher and Dye no matter what. Ozzie and Kenny love Owens. Ramirez is now getting OF time so he can be our utility man. BA is putting on a clinic, and is really in a make or break season. With those 3 players playing for the final spot really, Quentin is just throw to the curb. I feel bad for the guy really. Believe me, he will get worked into the equation somehow. Whether it be injuries, or a trade down the road, he will get his chance to play. They didn't go out to specifically acquire him for him not to play.

QUOTE(Allsox @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 02:27 PM) As far as I'm concerned, BA should, at the very least, be out there after the 7th inning of every single game this yr. Jerry Owens has proved he doesn't have much of an arm and putting Swisher out in CF reminds of the Mackowiak days with balls falling in between SS and CF. With the way this pitching staff is set up, they need all the defensive help they can get. Agreed, but I just don't like the idea of BA languishing on the bench as some defensive replacement. He either needs to be given a shot, or he needs to be mastering AAA pitching.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 02:09 PM) I am going to go out onto a limb and predict that if Ramirez gets a spot and plays a lot, he will become quickly one of the most hated players on the team. Sloppy defense and a guy who will swing at anything sounds like a guy who has a Soxtalk target on his back. Well, don't get me wrong, I am not saying he is this talented yet....but that sounds quite a bit like the player Ramirez is often compared with....(who happens to play for the team on the North Side...)

I can't say enough how big of a mistake I believe it will be to not make BA your starting CF at the beginning of the season. This team has all the offense it needs. What it needs now is defense to help out this pitching staff, and BA is CLEARLY, hands-down, our best defensive CF. I believe that is more important than anything Owens brings to the team.

QUOTE(Princess Dye @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 01:52 PM) Have to find out what is his best position Develop him at AAA for that position UNLESS - you figure out early he's simply not solid defensively, and wont be, and then in that case...consider him as a super-sub even in the present. If his ceiling is a better hitting Ozuna, figure on him being a sub going onward...and maybe he gets time the second half of the year to be a starter, but if so it's gravy. I mean.... all this is tough to say considering how bad Uribe can be.... but i flipflop because i forget that it is Richar's turn, once he's healthy. And that's not a turn that hasnt been earned, by the way. He's projecting to be a decent hitter and good fielder, from what we've seen. I think everyone is way too high on Ramirez's bat right now for them to plan on him being a super-sub.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 01:44 PM) Unless the name is Konerko, I'm not sure I actually want there to be a trade (Although I'd still be a fan of moving Crede's contract). My simplistic justification for that statement is that if we move anyone right now, we're doing so from a position of weakness. Anderson, Owens, Quentin, MMac, any of those guys we'd move have their values depressed compared to where they will be if they can put together a few solid months. The other team would be looking to pick up a bargain. You don't build a successful team by being the guy the other team steals a bargain player from, you build a team by being the guy stealing all the bargains and maximizing their value. That's what my hang-up is, with one exception- I wouldn't mind moving Owens right now, but I think that is the last guy they want to move. I think you're oversimplifying it a bit though. The question isn't just "are we maximizing our value," but also "are we hurting our chances for success (both long-term and short-term) by having this glut of players at the same positions." And then you have to weigh the two against one another. Sure, it may be best (in terms of returns in trade) to let guys like Owens or Uribe or Richar or Anderson increase their value with a few solid months, but is it best to have them out there in the first place trying to accomplish that? Unfortunately, I couldn't disagree more with the team's OF stance right now, so my prospective is probably a bit skewed. But I just don't see any value in Owens being on this ballclub this season considering what Anderson is doing and what Quentin will do. I guess that's what might lead me to agree with your initial statement about Konerko.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 01:32 PM) Which would mean to me that we traded Garland to: Save a couple million $, get an extra late first/early 2nd round pick, and clear space to give our young pitchers a solid tryout. I think all of those are positive things. The most important thing would probably be to buy some time for Ramirez to hone his skills at ss, even though that wasn't a consideration when the deal was made, obviously.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 01:10 PM) I think there will be a trade or 2 before the season starts. I sure hope so.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 01:06 PM) There is no reason at all to sign OC long term until at least midseason, and then only if one of the 2 guys I just mentioned has flopped and Uribe has been his usual .220 self. Regardless of what KW has said, the right move now that we have Ramirez is to wait. Well I personally don't see any reason to sign OC long-term regardless, but they seem quite impressed with his leadership ability and intangibles. I guess if Ramirez is really tearing it up in Charlotte than that opinion could change. And while it would pain me to think we traded Garland for such little pt out of OC, you can't be stubborn and continue to make more mistakes to try and justify a previous one. The best thing in that scenario would probably be to just let OC walk and take the picks.

QUOTE(Princess Dye @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 12:36 PM) I dont disagree with your prediction, but reading the above... i cant help think this is even further a justification to put him on the 08 squad. Pablo's no spring chicken But Pablo's making $1.05 million this season, and was paid $800k last season for only 78 at-bats, so he's pretty likely not to be toiling in Charlotte this season...

QUOTE(shipps @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 12:14 PM) Secondbase will be the future position for Ramirez, not CF.For the most part he has already shored up his skills at SS.He isnt young he has played alot of baseball already,this isnt some long term project kind of player. If you believe that, than what is the future for Richar? Another team? Utility man? Car salesman?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2008 -> 12:13 PM) If the Sox think they have something useful in both Ramirez and Richar...which by every account they seem to...then the right move is to play Alexei at SS and Danny at 2nd base to start the season in AAA. Hell, not only would they be working on the positions where we'd expect them to play, we'd have next year's double play combo working together. IF Ramirez is as good as people seem to think he can be, then given the fact that we have no other SS anywhere near ready, he absolutely has to be put in that position to prepare for next year. Worst case scenario, one of them, either Danny or Alexei flops this year. The solution to that can be met with money; we will have an easy ability to offer arbitration to Uribe and OCab this offseason and can put our efforts towards signing one of them if needed. Hopefully neither one will need to be signed, and that will set us up as having an infield in 09 with Fields, Ramirez, and Richar...making something like $3 million between them, which, compared to the $18 million or so we're spending on Crede, OCab, and Richar this year...leaves us plenty of money to go after someone like Captain Cheeseburger or another starting pitcher next offseason if that's where we choose to move. That would be the ideal situation- starting Richar and Ramirez at Charlotte and get them accustomed to working together. But from what I understand, Kenny has all intentions of signing OCab long-term. I guess a lot of this does depend on whether or not the team plays well, what kind of year OCab has, how healthy he is, etc.

I think you've got to start Uribe. My issue with Ramirez is that he's not ready to play second base on the mlb level yet. We've heard from Ozzie that he probably isn't ready yet, and I've also heard from a good source who saw him in camp that Ramirez looks really raw defensively at both 2b and CF. So I've got to believe he probably needs more time at 2b in Charlotte. The other issue is this: Do we want to spend valuable time with Alexei learning 2b when he might not even have a future at that position? I'd really like him to shore up his skills at ss, but then again, we're not sure if OCab is going to be brought back long-term or not. If the organization forsees OCab as our long-term ss, than Ramirez needs to be spending all of his time developing at a position he will actually be playing. But if that is 2b and not ss, than the question is what is Richar's future? This is a pretty tough call considering we have some options that need to be played out and worked out at all 3 of Ramirez's potential positions, and yet, he really needs to develop at one of them to be the best player he can be for us. Yes, I know that the MI positions are such that he could develop the necessary skills for both of them, but I'd rather he work on one and really get strong there since he is supposedly fairly raw at all three as of right now.

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Mar 17, 2008 -> 01:45 AM) We've got to be kicking ourselves over that. Someone's head has to roll...

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Mar 17, 2008 -> 01:28 AM) 11 innings, then. Over the course of 11 full innings in spring training, those stats don't look good. Johan Santana last year put up an ERA of 6.39 over a stretch of 12 2/3 innings in July last year. That's right, not only was it the regular season, but Santana's rough spell lasted 15% longer. I'm just glad we have Floyd instead of Santana because of what these stats are telling me. Either way, at least we have Jerry Owens' .429 batting average to fall back on. Hey, Pods has a .529 OBP with Colorado this spring....

Interesting stuff here. I am running a "dark horse" pool with my friends, so this is all good to see. 1) Winthrop over Washington St. Watched Washington St. play Stanford the other night and am just not overly impressed with them. 2) Saint Joe's over Oklahoma. Joe's will win this one fairly easily. 3) Davidson over Zaga. Not really an upset, but Davidson has been playing too good lately. 22 straight wins. Make it 23. 4) San Diego over UConn. UConn seems to always being playing with fire. I think they'll get behind and not quite be able to pull this one out. 5) Georgia over Xavier. I think Georgia keeps up the hot play for a few more games... 6) Nova' over Clemson. FT's may not be the story of Memphis's demise in the first round, but they will be for Clemson. 7) Oregon over Miss St AND Memphis. Oregon can play with anyone when they are focused. They could win 2-3 games or lose by 25 to Mississippi State. If they should beat the dogs, I wouldn't be surprised at all for them to stay with Memphis and Memphis gets burned by the FT's in a close game.

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Mar 16, 2008 -> 11:58 PM) Moon was a great choice. We sat next to Shaun White's table. He was kicked out and dragged out by the bouncers. Not the flying tomato!

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 14, 2008 -> 07:07 PM) I bet Brian Anderson has a better year than Ryan Sweeney this year, based off of win shares. And I would bet that he has a substantially better year....

QUOTE(mreye @ Mar 14, 2008 -> 07:27 AM) You need an explanation? My comment was clearly in jest....I think it's more fun to let the quick witted folks like GP decide if I am being "green" or not...

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 14, 2008 -> 10:04 AM) I thought last nights was pretty meh, but it sets up more interesting questions. Is Jin really dead? Why would they choose the date of the plane crash when we know he was alive months and months afterwards? Was it all a setup? Is Jin still on the island, waiting for Sun to return or for the rest to be rescued? Also here's another debatable point: does Michael know who Sayid and Desmond are? I couldn't really tell from the 2 second scene he was introduced. Some argue he gave a "look" to tell them to play along, others argue that nothing was there. Personally I think it's debatable, but we'll obviously find out next week. Others have also suggested that "Michael" might actually be Walt all grown up. I think Hurley's behavior was clearly that of someone not too upset about Jin, so I am pretty convinced he and Sun were doing that for the benefit of someone else. Whether it is Sun's father or someone else, I'm not sure, but I didn't think what they were doing was sincere (despite Sun's very moving performance in front of the tombstone). Hurley got to Sun's place, and says "Is anyone else coming?" She says "No, just you." And Hurley says "Good." There's something to that. Then Hurley says "Well, let's go see him" in a way that just didn't seem respectful enough to go visit a person's tombstone. Especially considering how considerate Hurley is. As for Michael being on the ship- I thought it was pretty clear that Michael knew exactly who Sayid was...there was eye contact there which suggested they both knew to play along and pretend to not know one another. I can't remember if Michael ever met Desmond? Who remembers?

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 09:33 PM) What do you do when you watch porn? I often invite criminals to videotape me and poison my dog, what else is there?

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 10:56 PM) I'm not buying that some of the Jin footage were flash forwards. He "died" in the crash. I really can't imagine that the Lost writers having Jin having a 2nd life after the island. There just is no way he could still be alive, as he was still working for Jin's fathers company in the episode. The question now is, who is the last one of the Six?? He died in what crash? I don't follow...

This would have been better had this burglar broken into the house with the guy and his girlfriend who's stuck on the toilet for 2 years....at least that would explain why the guy was masturbating...

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 09:24 PM) That's not a spoiler site from future episodes...just a translation from tonight. But that's part of the allure to Lost...they intend for you not to understand...