bigruss

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Mar 31, 2011 -> 08:56 AM) How many playoff series' have the almighty Twins and their invincible "farm" won? (I'm assuming everyone here would cry tears of joy if we had the Twins system) Neither team is doing it 100% right, and just as you don't think we're consistent contenders, I don't think the Twins are either. Wining the division then getting demolished in the playoffs every year isn't a contender in my opinion. As a couple writers have said, the Sox are extremely volatile, we'll either be incredible or huge underachievers with nothing in the middle. I'm fine with that strategy as long as they are doing everything possible to fill huge holes (Dunn>Kotsay) and gambling on having a legit WS contender vs building the Twins version of a "contender". I never brought up the Twins, and honestly I do appreciate part of their ways, but they are flawed too. It's all about combining the best methods in drafting, scouting, development, trades, FA, that lead to consistent contenders. If you can't understand that this puts the organization in a better place to compete every year, and not just for a division but for a WS, than Im sorry, I have nothing else to say.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 02:40 PM) Dude but they have for 10 years now! It's hard to draft can't miss guys when you finish above .500 every single year. The one year we didn't finish around .500 we got Beckham! Since they changed their drafting philosophy we've picked Poreda, Beckham, Mitchell and Sale. Would you rather be worrying about Rick Porcello and Clay Richard this year than have Peavy? I mean that was the big gripe at the time, taking Poreda over Porcello. We basically gave the Pads nothing for Peavy. I'm ok with how the drafting has been going the last few years; we just gotta wait for the fruits to ripen some more. It's also very possible that after this year our system looks stacked again. Guys develop out of nowhere. 3 playoff appearances in 10 years when you play in the AL Central and have the largest payroll most years is not what I consider consistently being in it. Plus the Sox have had those deep down years recently. We'll need quite a few breakout season from our prospects to even consider to have any depth in the system, even most of the biggest optimists when it comes to our farm system know that we have very few impact prospects. And I said before, they have improved in drafting, I just don't think what they have done is enough to supplement KW's style. QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 03:20 PM) As long as KW keeps flipping "prospects" for MLB ready talent, I couldn't care less how we "draft". I consider any draft pick we turn into a Danks or Floyd to be a great pick. People put too much focus on the farm, this isn't the NFL, you can have a perfectly fine team without having them be 95% internal. We have draft picks: Beckham, Morel, Sale, and Alexei (debatable as a "draft" pick I guess)....and Danks, Floyd, Jackson, Peavy, Quentin acquired with recent draft picks all playing a huge roll on the team this year. I don't see anything wrong with that. This type of attitude is what leads to the Sox not putting out a consistent contender (I don't consider a 3rd place or lower finish in the AL Central a "contender"). And although that list is somewhat impressive (to be able to find guys like Floyd, Danks, etc) where has it taken us? They haven't even won a playoff series with that team, and only made the playoffs once with the players they've acquired since 2005. Just look at what they had to do with the payroll, they spiked it up to $125 mill to fill holes, and they still don't have depth t many key areas.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 11:23 PM) Vids or it didn't happen s***, don´t got vids but my wallet speaks for the jamesons, f***ing 30 euro for the 3 doubles, and my friend saw me with the chicks too.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 10:31 PM) That was you? Dickhead. lol. I'm not really mad. I've just got to get used to having guys that are readily available in most leagues yet scooped up by every team in this Oprah of a league. Hahaha yea definitely, I was just waiting for someone to pick up on my drafting him. Hell, I dropped almost every reliever that the comp picked me.

It´s 6am here in Barcelona, just getting back after hooking up with 2 chicks, fantastic night. I don´t even care that I spent so much on Jameson doubles, totally worth it.

Just to clarify, I don´t expect KW to win every single trade, or to select every prospect that pans out or turns into a stud. I just believe that this team would have had much better results since 2005 if they had been drafting better, and even though they are doing a better job, they still have a huge room for improvement. Some people may think I am just nitpicking or finding something to complain about, but I see this as a legitimate reason for why the Sox have not strung consecutive good seasons together. Maybe I am spoiled since Im only 21, but I want the Sox to succeed year in and year out, and this is a good way to help with that.

I guess my point is, that even though the Sox have had moderate success, and one fantastic year, they still have a very big weakness in the draft, and this has kept them from achieving more. The most troubling part of this is that it's something that can be fixed if they only stopped restricting themselves. It's their own damn fault that they don't have more prospects.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 11:14 AM) And although you're 100% right that you can't trade talent to other teams if you don't have it...let's look at the actual case study of the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox have had, by all accounts, a bottom of baseball farm system for the last half-decade at least. You could have written this post in 2005-2006 and been just as accurate. Despite that, the Sox's minor league system has produced a fairly regular supply of players for the major league system. Although it hasn't outproduced Boston, it has been still producing big leaguers. Furthermore, it has given Kenny Williams ample ammunition to be the most aggressive GM in baseball in the trade market. Yeah, we're going to regret having dealt Gio. But otherwise, we complain on and on about how the weak farm system has prevented trades, yet KW still manages to pull more of them off than any other GM. Since 2005 and through 2009, KW has acquired these players through trade: Jim Thome and cash Rob Mackowiak Javier Vazquez Alex Cintron Matt Thornton David Riske Sandy Alomar, Jr. Mike MacDougal David Aardsma and Carlos Vazquez Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez Andy Sisco Nick Masset, John Danks and Jacob Rasner John Lujan Tomas Perez Danny Richar Michael Dubee Jon link Orlando Cabrera Carlos Quentin Nick Swisher Willy Mota and Miguel Socolovich Jim Brower Ken Griffey Jr. Horacio Ramirez Franklyn German Wilson Betemit, Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers, Jon Gilmore and Santos Rodriguez Future Considerations Ramon Castro and cash Norris Hopper Tony Pena Mark Kotsay Jake Peavy Cash Andy Cannizaro Justin Fuller Brandon Hynick Mark Teahen and cash Juan Pierre Not exactly a stellar list of acquisitions considering KW pretty much has lived through trades to supply the team with new talent. You have a couple big name players, but with them came huge contracts and were either old and/or injury prone. He found some diamond in the roughs like Thornton, but for the most part he hasn't had enough produce. Now, with a better farm system, one could say that he could have gotten a Roy Halladay, Adrian Gonzalez, etc. Of course this will all be stipulation because a fan can't say exactly what the asking price was and how prospects are viewed by different GMs, but the fact is a stronger farm system delivers better trade targets and more depth. And the draft has supplied the Sox with Beckham, Morel, Sale. So 3 players in the last 5 years has supplied 3 players to your MLB team?? That's ridiculous, especially considering that many of the trades recently for KW have not been great (Peavy, Vazquez, Teahen, Swisher, those are the most important trades and have failed at multiple levels). And then you look at the recent seasons that the Sox have had since the WS: 2006 102,750,667 90-72 3rd 2007 108,671,833 72-90 4th 2008 121,189,332 89-74 1st 2009 96,068,500 79-83 3rd 2010 107,000,000 88-74 2nd He's only had one playoff appearance, and only one second place finish to show, even with the payroll where it was (numbers taken from MLBtraderumors, and Baseball-reference, I think some a high since they don't account for cash back). They can't make consecutive playoffs because they can't seem to fill holes in the team via trade, FA, or homegrown players. To me, this tells me that a stronger farm system is what is the difference between the Sox competing for the playoffs (not in it) every three years or so to them actually making it almost every year.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 07:48 PM) Unfortunately, no. They've already filled all of their supply chain positions... It's looking like Atlanta is a pretty likely destination for me. That's too bad, but goodluck wherever you end up!

AJP

Rios

Beckham

Dunn

Konerko, he's sporting a .900+ SLG% in 11 AB's vs. Carmona

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 10:17 AM) pics I had to charge my camera battery, but I´ll be taking many in the next 3 days, and I´ll se what I can upload.

I am just surrounded by beautiful girls out here in Barcelona, honestly everywhere I look there is a gorgeous woman.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 02:56 PM) True. I think there would be some humongeous fissures develop in the structure of the whole EU if/when the domino of Spain falls. They can't really print money like we can. Hopefully my tourism money will help a tad

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 08:50 AM) I have zero love for "farm systems", and don't care whether we ever have a good "farm" or not. In the free agency era of baseball, free agency > farm systems. How many "can't miss" prospects did I have to witness fall on their face for the Sox in the last decade and amount to nothing? 50? Meanwhile, 2 of them ever became something? Meh. For many years, the Cubs had one of the best farm systems in baseball...and what did it produce? A bunch of hurt players and failures? I hear about these insane farms all the time, and they produce MAYBE 1-2 good players in a DECADE. Big deal. And then, by the time these farm players mature to the point where you're team is well rounded enough to win a title, most of them leave via free agency. You could use free agency to get 1-2 good players in a decade without even trying. The Twins supposedly have an awesome farm...and they've won ZERO titles throughout the era they've had this farm. For every "farm grown team" that wins a world series, 9 world series are won by teams that stacked free agents. I'd rather go this route than rely on a bunch of kids that may or may not turn into anything. Besides, with stupid farm rebuilds, you have to go through 3-5 years of crap baseball before they get good and you end up paying them what you would have paid free agents anyway...in the mean time, if you just reload with free agents, you don't have to go through years of bad in order to get good. That ends my rant on stupid farms. Although you bring up some valid points, the fact is a strong farm system has two deliverables: depth for you MLB team and trade pieces. It´s not about depending only on homegrown players, but trading pieces you drafted for established players. You can´t do that if other teams don´t think you have enough to offer to deal with. The best organizations have a balance between homegrown, international, trade acquired, and FA signed players. Right now, the future of the Sox is showing too much dependent on FA´s to build a contender within budget.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 08:17 AM) ...and we replace his yearly 220+ innings and decent ERA with whom, exactly? That my friend, is the big question. It is why people kept bringing up the same trades over and over again, because they saw a huge weakness approaching with no legit answers coming from the farm system. Thus, FA will have to save this team, as the rotation will have many potential openings coming up soon.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 09:18 AM) Too bad Home Run Inn sucks. I live near a Home Run Inn, I hate it. I love Geno's East and Connies for Chicago pizza...and everything else is weak. When you live outside of Chicago for an extended period of time, especially when you move to an area where Dominos is HQ'ed, pizza like Home Runn Inn start tasting fantastic. I agree, it's not the best out there, but for a frozen pizza that you can but around the midwest it's one of the best choices.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 08:15 AM) That's the way the public works...works. If a department is budgeted X dollars, if they don't spend X dollars in that fiscal year, they don't get that budget next year...ergo, they spend it all even if it's not necessary. For example, if they're given $2,000,000 for employee salaries, they'll spend every dime, or they won't get $2,000,000 next year. The same goes for just about every City department. Technically, this isn't called 'waste' by their definition...because they're using the money to it's fullest. My father in law worked for Streets and San for decades. When the government bailouts came, Chicago used the money they received to buy a fleet of trucks for Streets & San, only the best part about it was they didn't need any...because they rent the entire fleet. So, every truck they bought...sitting in lots, unused. Meanwhile, they continue to pay out the rental money to the truck rental company. But if you ask them, that's not waste, because a day may come when they need those trucks...but in the mean time they rust away, unused, in a lot. Bah. Until you mentioned Internships, I had forgotten all about my nightmare at City Hall, and everything I got to see my tax dollars NOT doing. Ha, yea I can totally see that happening. The amount of waste and ridiculous spending that I saw in University Housing was always astounding to me. And people always wondered why they had to pay so much to live in the dorms, or why each meal cost so much. There were way to many workers, even during dinner rushers, that just stood around not doing anything and wouldn't even answer a question or help you, and they are either getting paid about $9 an hour if they are a student, or on a $30k or so salary.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 08:12 AM) Whatever the DiGiornos ends up tasting like, it can't be a whole lot worse than the Connies they had before. It should be Home Run Inn or the sort, at least a local brand but still can taste good after being frozen, IMO.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 09:01 AM) I interned at City Hall for 3 months in their IT department. Talk about witnessing "waste". Simple jobs would take 3-4 people to do, like changing a printer toner cartridge (and I'm not kidding), and I'm also not counting the Interns that tailed along with the 3-4 people performing the work, watching them to "learn the trade". I only took that internship because I had too for a class...I was already working at an ISP (Internet Service Provider) startup, and stayed there after I graduated... Wow, that really is incredible that they let it get that way, and that interns were put into those situations (they must've been bored out of their minds).

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 11:07 PM) This league is literally going to make me insane. I go to check on the availability of the 1% owned in standard Yahoo! leagues, Andrew Cashner, and he's taken. And it's not like he was just scooped up in the last couple days. He was drafted! Hehehehehe Honestly I was just looking for sleepers at the end of the draft, I could care less about picking up some scrub back up player, I wanted to find some young guys that I knew had a good shot at getting solid playing time, Cashner was one that stood out to me.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 28, 2011 -> 05:42 AM) Thanks for the detailed response, especially since I know you're not posting much these days (but good to see you still active). That was really helpful. I definitely already have at least 6-7 really good experiences from GE that I can talk thoroughly about that I kind of tailor to different questions, so I should be pretty prepared in that aspect. Any luck with the company that we spoke about last semester? We could always use another Sox fan!