BearSox

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jul 26, 2009 -> 08:40 PM) The crux of your argument seems to be that, despite putting up an impressive 2/3 of a season two years ago by displaying 20+ HR power and earning the starting 3B job back in April, Josh Fields is probably not going to start for the Sox again because his hitting mechanics are flawed. On the other hand, Jayson Nix, who you ague has much better hitting mechanics, obviously has a much better chance of becoming a major-league starter, despite the fact that Nix has never actually done anything remotely impressive with his bat in the bigs (career .613 OPS). Is that what you're trying to argue, or am I missing something? I'm saying Nix has a better shot because he has shown good fundamentals. I really don't care what Fields did in his first time around the league, he has much worse than flawed hitting mechanics, and if he hasn't already learned a good, fundamentally sound swing, why should we expect him developing one any time soon with the same hitting coaches?

1.) What a douchebag and stupid article. 2.) Even if the fan wanted to, he wouldn't be able to catch it. 3.) It's basic instinct to grab for a ball hit at you.

well this is just beyond stupid.

From his recent interview with FS:

JPN, how does Viciedo's defense at 3B look?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 26, 2009 -> 12:28 AM) I told you guys that when Dayan started pulling more he'd be deadly. I don't get why we want him to pull more. Are you saying he needs to start turning on the inside pitch more? If so, that makes sense. But to say he needs to pull more is getting me confused. Frank Thomas' best years were when he went CF-RF.

Clement isn't a catcher anymore. He could play there in an emergency, but he'll be playing most likely either LF or 1B.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 10:25 PM) probly bcuz he threw all fastballs. he struck out the 1st batter by throwing 2 fastballs then the hook got him out. with granderson, he had him 0-2 and the next pitch, he throws him a fastball in the zone when a breaking pitch gets him and the games over. "You know what? I'm not even mad about this one," said Jenks, who has dropped four saves in 26 opportunities this season. "I would go out there with that stuff tonight every day." It's not the fact he threw fastballs, it's that his location was once again bad. With Granderson, he had an 0-2 count, so obviously the logical thing would be to try and make him chase something out of the zone. With the tying runner on 3rd, you wouldn't be throwing a curve in the dirt. So, a fastball high and out of the zone made sense in that situation. Well, instead of throwing it neck high, he threw belt high right over the inside portion of the plate.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 26, 2009 -> 01:43 AM) How the heck is Lee a finesse pitcher? Lee has very good stuff for a lefty. He might not throw 96 but he's got great stuff. Dan Haren doesn't throw super hard, Mark Buehrle doesn't. Give me a break. The guy won the Cy Young in the AL, you don't do that by sucking. Dan Haren has MUCH better stuff than both Lee and Buehrle. Yeah, he won the Cy Young. He had a great year last year. But I still don't see him winning much more, and I wouldn't pay him top dollar or top prospects for in a trade. I'm not saying he isn't good, he's a solid pitcher. I just don't see him as an ace.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jul 26, 2009 -> 12:26 AM) How is Cliff Lee a finesse pitcher? He changes speeds to enhance the stuff he has which is already good as it is. The definition of a finesse pitcher. He's got decent stuff, but his success comes from changing speeds and good location.

This trade seems to only make sense for the Rays.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 11:40 PM) That's true. No argument there. But there's no logic behind the argument that a guy who will be in his late 20's next year and has accomplished jack squat at the major-league level will eventually be more successful than the guy in the late 20's who has had one good 2/3 of a season at the major-league level, but is deemed to have inferior hitting mechanics. That's just illogical cheerleading. The reality is that neither of these guys have lived up to their draft positions, neither have shown that they can hit consistently enough in the bigs to warrant a spot in the Sox starting lineup, and both of their windows of opportunity are quickly closing. How's that illogical cheerleading? Nix has much better fundamentals than Fields, you can't deny that.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 09:18 PM) Fields has at least shown me '07. What has Nix ever done at the ML level to show that he's more worthy of a spot in the lineup? All you got are minor league numbers as he's never got a shot to start everday except for the first month of 08. If I had to bet money on who has a better shot at becoming a decent everyday player, it'd be Nix. At least Nix has shown basic fundamentals, Fields has shown that he has a good arm and good power if the pitcher doesn't throw harder than 90.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 09:22 PM) How is Cliff Lee overrated? I'm not too fond of finesse pitchers and his success has only come when the Indians have sucked.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 09:16 PM) Jared weaver wasn't enough? Are they out of their minds? They were probably never serious about trading him. They probably wanted to see if they could sucker a team into severly overpaying for Halladay.

I'd prefer to avoid going after Lee. Lee is a bit overrated and I'd rather avoid sending Cleveland a bunch of prospects that could haunt us in the long run. As for Haren, I'd love to get him, but don't see it happening.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 02:29 PM) That's a nice emotional argument, but the truth is that Fields has had a lot more success at the plate at the ML level than Nix has. They're both just shy of 27 (Fields is actually 4 months younger), so I don't see Nix suddenly morphing into Gordon Beckham. Maybe Nix will get it together and post a .300 OBP at some point in the next year or two, but there's no evidence at this point to suggest that he's a better long-term option as a starter than Fields. That said, Nix has a really good shot to be a utility infielder for the Sox next season. His defensive versatility is a plus. Besides 07 in his first go around the league, what has Fields shown you that shows he has any shot at becoming a decent MLB starter. All I've seen this year is a guy who looks like he just started playing baseball.

Well, we certainly blew a golden oppurtunity.

Also, Jenks is performing poorly at the worst possible time. With each blown save, his value goes down, and if we fall out of it, we won't get good value if we decide to sell.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 07:00 PM) Thornton was 95-96. Rodney was 96-97. I thought it was probably hot. Thornton's fastball looked a bit flat, and I could tell you for sure some of those Jackson fastballs today were not 99. Detroit also usually has a bit of a hot gun anyway.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 02:10 PM) Cowley to be on the score in 10 minutes to talk about these trade rumors. TUNE IN SOX FANS! Why? The odds of anything he says being even remotely true are very low.

Viciedo isn't getting traded in any package.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 12:52 PM) LOL, based on what? Nix's awesome .268 career OBP? Even Fields is doing better than that, and has also shown power at the ML level (23 homers two years ago). And with Beckham looking more like an eventual middle infielder than a 3B, Nix would have a lot more competition in the middle infield than Fields would at 3B. Nix has shown he's a competent baseball player and his swing and approach at bat lead to potential success. Fields is about as clueless as you can get at bat, and has a god awful swing and approach. If he hasn't learned how to swing a bat yet, how will he ever learn?

From a business standpoint, this is an obvious move. And from a fan standpoint, I like it. Thursday night will be round 1 and take about 4 hours. Then Friday, the 2nd and 3rd round will begin late afternoon. I would prefer it if they added the 4th round as well to day 2. And then on saturday morning, they go through the final 4 rounds. Then we got Sunday to watch baseball and talk about the draft. I can't wait until they make the draft in late February or early March. The time between the superbowl and draft is just way too long.

I like Barons Banter. It's short and gets the point across. Some of blackbetsy's are good, but people might not get some of them because they seem related to the city and not the team.