BearSox

Right now, I'd love for our first three picks to be: 1 (23) - Mike Leake, SP Arizona St. 1b (38) - A.J. Pollack, OF Notre Dame (could also potentially play either 2B or 3B as well) 2 (610 - Aaron Miller, OF Baylor Mike Leake is someone who can progress quickly and be a real solid no. 3 (if not better) for a long time. He doesn't have dominant stuff, but he has good stuff and knows how to pitch. Great poise, great command and is a true baseball player. Pollack is a great baseball player and can play all 3 OF spots, and could potentially move back to 2B or 3B. He has good speed, and can hit. Very solid player and another true baseball player. Miller is a bit raw, but also another very solid baseball player. Get him to focus on just his offensive game, and he can be the next Andre Ethier. Got a sweet swing, and again, a true baseball player. I guess you see the theme with my draft, and it goes right with what Ozzie said, good, true baseball players. 3 guys who could progress through the system rather quickly and become solid players for us.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ May 15, 2009 -> 11:31 AM) funny how ppl still like figgins. look at his numbers from last year and so far this year lol i guess its better than what we have but everyone really overrates him You must be looking at the wrong numbers, cause he's still a solid leadoff hitter. Lifetime .288 hitter with a lifetime .355 OBP. Over the past two years, he's averaged an OBP over .365, averages around 40 stolen bases a year, and can play decent D at 3B, 2B, LF, and CF. Oh, and he can actually bunt, and he's a switch hitter. He's no world beater, but a very solid option at leadoff hitter. Something we've been missing since 05.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 15, 2009 -> 11:01 AM) Why do people keep assuming the market next offseason will be better than this one and not worse? Baseball was hardly touched by the economic collapse last year because it happened quite a ways after most of the tickets had been sold, esp. season tickets. This is going to be the year where it starts hurting teams. Did I ever say the market will be better? No, for all I know it will be worse. However, that doesn't mean that players who are having great years like Hudson and Damon aren't still gonna get more from other teams than they will from us. I really don't see how the market will effect anything but the salary numbers. Teams that are willing to spend will still spend. And we've never been a team to spend a lot.

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 14, 2009 -> 10:35 PM) right - the bomb IS the incident. Faraday was trying to MAKE the incident happen, not stop it. He knew it had to happen. Why? If the bomb didn't go off, the electromagnetic energy would've gotten out of control and screwed up the planet's alignment, axis, etc, wreaking havoc on everything. The bomb had to go off to negate that energy, in order to allow the swan to be built on top of it. Without the bomb, the Swan never could've been built because the energy in the area wouldn't allow for anything to be built on top. Essentially, after the explosion, they all die and everything goes back to Episode 1 Season 1. So then what? They're stuck in a time loop with everything replaying over and over again. Next season we will see the return of constants, and the goal will be to find the loophole, break the cycle, since none of the survivors will have any memory of the things that happen once they die and things start over again. That's my guess. I'm pretty sure Jacob touched all of Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Sayid, Hugo, and Jin. So, I was thinking everything is restored to normal and we go back to episode 1, and that is now the present, BUT, I think all those touched by Jacob remember everything that has happened. Perhaps Jacob planned for them to remember everything so they can plan what to do and change what will happen to keep him alive.

Hudson will likely cash in and we don't need a 2B, Damon will likely also cash in again and he's a Boras client. Figgins makes the most sense. He's someone who's been on KW's radar for a while now and likely would not be too expensive to sign. He could play either 3B, LF, or CF for us.

I'd love to see some film on Nathan Jones.

Looks like that boat in the beginning was likely black rock (completely forgot about that boat). Wondering what Jacob's plans are with how he kept bringing boats and planes to the island. Was he trying to create a utopia? He said anything in between is progress, but progress for what?

Someone brought up a good point about how Jack's dad told Locke that he needed to die to bring everyone back. I was thinking, could that be Esau who was the one pretending to be Jack's dad. However, when Fake Locke, Sun, Ben, and Frank first went back to the main island, wasn't it Jack's dad in the house? So, there has to be a separate entity that is working with Esau, IMO. And finally, most people know about Joseph and technicolor dream coat, and so on. However, Jacob had one more son after Joseph. Guess what that sons name was... Ben! Also, before Ben was born, Jacob was to change his name to Isreal, and during labor, Jacob's wife Rachel had died. Didn't Ben's mother die during labor? Ben and his father never had a good relationship, and it was always blamed on the fact that his wife had died in labor. Could it turn out all together that Jacob was actually the father of Ben and the real reason Ben's dad hated him was because he knew he wasn't his? This could explain why Jacob never showed himself to Ben in the first place.

In a discussion I had today with some other Lost fans, one brought up a very good point. Remember in season 2 when they were showing Desmond's story, when he is first found on the island, the guy who is with him always wore a radiation suit outside. If you recall, he would go out everyday with the suit on. Eventually it turned out there was a rip in it, and it was safe to go outside, but could the reason they had the suit in the first place be because of the hydrogen bomb? So, was Miles right, and was setting of the A-Bomb actually the event that caused everything? Very interesting. Longest 8 months of my life coming up.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 14, 2009 -> 07:21 PM) I don'tk now if Beckham will hit enough to stick at 3B, but he might. Still, his value is at his highest if he can stick in the middle infield. We just have to hope that his defense improves and he can turn into a Michael Young type defensive player at SS. I realize that doesn't mean he's great, ie, in the upper echelon (despite Young's GG from last year) but it does mean he sucks up everything hit to him and I'd be content with that if he hits like he's projected to do. I think best case scenario with Beckham offensively is a Michael Young type except with more pop, but maybe less pure hitting ability.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 14, 2009 -> 07:16 PM) Holliday has been awful this year. I was referring to the career numbers. Holliday also plays a good outfield and is in his prime. And you'd be talking about significant less money. Different skill-sets, so you aren't comparing apples to apples. Plus nowhere did you see me saying the Sox should give Holliday 10+ million that they are giving Thome. Not at all. Thome isn't worth what he's getting now and I continue to say that I'd build my team in other ways but he's not horrible. He's certainly not an all star either though. Even with that said, I wouldn't be oppossed to bringing back Thome next year at around 5 million or so.

Call me crazy, but if Fields doesn't pan out at 3B and Viciedo looks like a move to LF or DH will be neccessary, it would not surprise me to see a move of Beckham to 3B. This also depends on how Alexei, Nix, and Getz do for the rest of the season, but I think it's safe to say come next year, Beckham will be starting at either 3B, SS, or 2B for us.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 14, 2009 -> 06:55 PM) Konerko still looks decent. A little light on home runs, but overall, doing reasonably well. He's been a bit inconsistent though since his hot start. This season seems to be shaping out to how his previous seasons used to always start off. Pretty good April, not so great May, and then in June he starts to really mash the ball. Hopefully that's the case this year.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ May 14, 2009 -> 04:42 PM) I guess Gerst is one of those guys who does better at the higher levels. He seemed to have been injured early on, so maybe the Sox figured that he would hit when healthy.

Yeah, I suppose where he will get drafted is all based on what he tells MLB scouts about what his future plans are. If he comes out seemingly pretty committed to going to UNC, he'll probably not get drafted until later on past the 1st to a team picking him for the hell of it in hopes he'll change his mind. He'll cost a pretty penny either way.

Interesting. I remember when we drafted him two years ago. Can't really forget a name like his. I'd have no problem taking him in round 4, 5, or 6. Needs a good amount of work, but you can't teach the amount of potential he seems to have.

I still think if someone can finally get through to Lillibridge, he could be a decent bench player. He's got great speed, and while he's no stud defensively, he can play 2B, SS, CF, and LF in a pinch. Nothing special, but I think he could be a handy addition to any ball club, if someone can teach him how to use his tools effectively and hit.

QUOTE (striker62704 @ May 14, 2009 -> 01:12 PM) Why are you centering out Fields? This whole team looks like sh@$ at the plate. We got shutdown by Mark f4cking Eaton. You are correct, the whole team looks like s*** at bat right now. Except right now, Fields probably is playing the worst of all them. You gotta start somewhere.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 14, 2009 -> 12:06 PM) I don't think that is what is happening. I think he handles offspeed stuff well, fastballs if they are low and/or out and not too fast. So they started giving him a combo of high heat and breakers outside his swing plane. His adjustment, at first, was to try to swing harder to catch up to the inner half / up heat, but that makes it worse, AND it looks like he is trying to hit the left field foul pole. Its that pre-swing bat load that is killing him, mostly. I've seen him tinker with it the last few games, to no avail yet. This is where Walker could be of help, and hopefully is. It baffles me whenever I see a pitcher throw a breaking ball over the plate or away to Fields, those are the pitches he can handle. As I stated in the first post, the best possible thing Fields could do is: Back off the plate some and go with a more straight away stance. He seems all tense up there, so I'd try and get him to loosen up some. As for his swing. He needs to either choke up on his current bat or go with a lighter ounce. He also needs to shorten up his load. His initial load is not fluid at all, and his timing with his hand and front foot seem to be off. He also needs to step into the ball. If he is going to try and be a big home run hitter, might as well get rid of him now. He needs to focus on driving the ball to center-right center. Fields definitely has the tools to be a decent player, but right now he's a bonehead at the plate and doesn't seem to have much of a clue. This is where the hitting coach comes in, and like you said, hopefully Walker can come through. This isn't something that will happen over night, but with extra batting cage sessions, more film watching, etc., this is an adjustment that could be made later on. I'm all for not trying to over coach hitters and just let them naturally adjust, which seems to be Walker's main philosophy, but that doesn't work for everyone. For players like Konerko, Thome, Dye, etc., they don't need a hitting coach. They are proven vets who know what they have to do. You could throw Quentin into that category as well as he seems like the type that's always critiquing his swing and knows how to adjust by himself. It's a lot of the young guys that need the coaching the most. A lot of them have likely always been naturally great and the best player, not having to really focus on the science of the game, and they breeze along until the majors, and that's where they hit the wall. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

On a side not, Lillibridge is on pace to K 126 times in 430 AB's.... solid.

Gives me more reason not to join the republican party.

I got 7 of 10 as well. The one about how many ways a player can reach 1B was complete BS anyway, as some of the rules aren't even enforced. I f***ed up on the one about the player standing on 1B getting hit in the leg. After I clicked the wrong answer, I immediately released how stupid I was. And for the last one about ERA, how the hell did they get 4.76? ERA = (Earned Runs X 9) divided by (Total Innings Pitched) It says that the pitcher gave up 2 runs in the first five innings (doesn't specify if they are earned or not though). Then it says the in the sixth (again, doesn't really specify if it's the sixth inning, or going into the pitchers sixth inning of work), it says he puts the first two runners on, gets the next two outs, and then is taken out for a relief pitcher who gives up a hit scoring one run, but then gets out of the inning. Am I stupid, or is the final line on the pitcher 5.2 IP, and at least 1 ER (could be 3 ER, but they didn't specify in the first) given up? How in hell is the ERA than 4.76?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 14, 2009 -> 12:53 AM) If you look back to my comments on the episode, 316 about Locke, youll see some stuff about biblical Jacob (along with other interesting bible passages as compared to Lost). As to this episode, I am starting to get the feeling that there is Jacob (who sees the good in people and allows them choice) and unnamed who appears to have lost faith in people. I believe that the person who has lost faith is a representation of the island, which goes back to the original struggle of the people versus the island (smoke monster, ghosts who try and make people run off cliffs, etc). What is interesting is the comment: Once Jacob is dead, things will change. At the same time Jacob is dieing, the atomic weapon is being set off. Perhaps some of the changes are not going to be exactly what Locke had imagined, especially in that it appears there are other Jacob supporters. Perhaps it was necessary for Jacob to martyr himself, who knows. There is a lot of information and hints (such as Abaddon) that there has to be some sort of connection to judeo/christian religion, but then again this episode had Egyptian undertones, to the point where I believe it suggested that Jacob was himself once Egyptian (hence why he was able to use the loon). Im not exactly sure where its going, I dont think that they are going to do the other guy was Esau though. I could see them going the route with Esau being the other guy and Jacob's twin brother, but I don't see them going down the biblical road where they are the son's of Issac, etc. They usually like to name most of the characters after someone in the past who that character relates to. John Locke, Dan Faraday (well, I assume he's named after Michael Faraday), etc.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 14, 2009 -> 12:05 AM) Sorry, Ozzie gets no credit for this. My grandma could tell Lillibridge sucks. Ozzie keeps putting him into the lineup instead of trying to get creative. Would putting Alexei in CF for a week for the sake of the team hurt his development at SS? Hell no, if anything, it could give you more options down the road. Agreed.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 13, 2009 -> 11:57 PM) IT was Latin, something to the effect of, "He who will save us all." Thanks