bigruss

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 09:43 PM) I will be less of a White Sox fan the day Kenny Williams is no longer the General Manager of the Chicago White Sox. I am so tired of this nonsense about farm teams. Look around, people. Look at who the best-rated farm systems have been in the last 5-10 years and then look at what they have actually produced. The once amazing systems of the Angels and Dodgers, loaded to the gils with player after player after player. And where has it got them? The Red Sox are a very unique organization, and I often hope that we will model ours after theirs. That being the case, there are not a whole lot of other organizations out there that I would want our FO to try and replicate. If KW invests more into scouting, drafting, and developing I would have little distaste for him. I like alot of his qualities, but he has handcuffed himself with the farm system. I think its ignorant to believe that you can have a strong MLB team that can be flexible and make moves during a season without a good farm system. Teams will trade top line players for either other top line players or good prospects. If oyu are in a playoff hunt, you would rather not detract from your team to add to your team thus you want a good farm system to trade with. The Angels had over half the equation right, they had a great farm system with a good MLB team, but wouldnt trade their prospects for impact players at the MLB level, which limited their ability to really become the best in baseball. The Red Sox, as much as I hate them, are the best overall run organization in baseball, and their formula should be emulated.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 09:36 PM) Of course, part of the reason for us having a 'horrible' farm system is that we keep trading away talent for other players. Ex. Chris Carter was MiLB player of the year last year... would have made our farm system look much better if we had kept him, right? But then we wouldn't have Carlos Quentin... etc., etc. I hvae no problem with moves like that, you trade a young prospect for a young MLB player with potential to be a star that is blocked by other players. Carter was a good prospect when we traded him, but had major concerns. That is a High Risk/High reward type trade. The problem I have, is that we dont have depth in the farm system still. If we do trade for Dunn or Fielder, you can basically say we would have nothing in the farm system.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 09:33 PM) Believe me when I say people in the organization knew that Wilder wasn't being ethical. Not surprised, and I wouldnt be surprised if some if not all of those people still have their jobs because they are good friends of Jr, KW, etc. Hell, for all I know KW knew about it but wouldnt make a strong enough move to stop it.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 09:29 PM) The biggest reason our international scouting sucked for over a decade was for a portion of that, KW was busy looking the other way while Dave Wilder was acting unethically. That is where the loyalty this organization has will bite it in its ass. I do think, for the most part, that loyalty is a good thing, but the Sox get too caught up in it. People need to be held accountable for their decisions or lack of decisions. Loyalty to your employees can bring loyalty and goodwill back, but when you become blind because of it, it creates situations like the Wilder one.

QUOTE (CWSOX45 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 09:16 PM) I don't post often, but when after reading this thread I thought I'd say a few things: 1. This team is in first place, the goal each and every year is to put ourselves in position to win in October, at this point you can't say that we are not in that position. There is still a week left until the trade deadline. Kenny Williams will do everything in his power to plug the holes for the stretch run. 2. If you want Ozzie and Kenny fired, who would you bring in, and why? If you're calling for their heads I'd like to hear who you think could do a better job with the same amount of resources. People don't realize how difficult it is to scout and find talent. The talent pool is so limited every year, and sometimes it only comes down to who can get to the talent first. International Scouting is completely different, there is literally no regulations in the Dominican, and the level of corruption is beyond description. (Which is why Sandy Alderson with MLB is working so hard to bring change to the region.) By no means am I attacking the original poster, just attacking what he is proposing. If you want to go around calling for people's heads, you better have an idea of who you want to replace them and a reason why they'd be an improvement over what we have now. I really disagree with this. Why do the Red Sox have one of the best farm systems? It's because they have no problem drafting tough to sign guys, guys who have the potential to be stars. They arent afraid to spend on the draft, and it pays off. They may draft at #25 or later in the draft, but they sign top 15 talent guys. International Scouting is a different animal, but it follows the same basic principles. You scout well, you putout the money, and you will have talent coming out of it. Depending on how much effort and money you put into it will determine your success rate. Even if KW does make a move to keep this team in first place, what will our farm system look like? Say we do trade for Fielder, we give up Hudson, Viciedo, Flowers, and maybe one or two more players (and not saying that this would get it done for either side). Next year, what do you do? You bring Fielder back at 16 mil, but then Paulie is a FA and prob demands 7-10 mill a year, AJ is a FA so how much will he make? You have raises to players such as Danks, and the payroll will most likely be around 95-105 mill depending on attendance figures. You dont have a lot of flexibility after the raises and having Fielder at that price tag, and now you have no one to replace your pending FAs, and you probably don have the payroll to resign them.

Not saying that it was at all possible, but I would much rather have Haren at that money than Peavey at his salary, and IMO our package for Peavey was better than what DBacks got.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 09:00 PM) Other than the horrible farm system and the whole let's listen to my stupid manager thing, I've liked the job that KW has done. Those are potentially disasterous mistakes though. Not having a farm system to upgrade your team with, whether its through a trade or promotion, or not being able to replenish your team after making a trade, can keep a team stagnant and potentially losing ground or a division lead.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:50 PM) This has been the most successful 5 years in franchise history. Really step back and think about that. Not to mention its pretty silly to get on Kenny Williams for not making moves, the guy pulls the trigger more than any other GM in the game. I dont think its wrong at all to demand more. The Sox have a fantastic payroll to work with, and really should be in a better position every year. They HAVE to draft better, develop better, advance scout better, have more presence in Latin America. KW and Ozzie do alot of things well, but they have alot of improvement to go still. I dont expect them to make the right move 100% of the time, but they can make major changes to help correct the mistakes they do make. This includes putting the team in the best position possible every series by knowing the other team inside and out, by having prospects waiting in the wings in case of injury or moves at the MLB level. They have the resources to do this, so why aren't they? These issues stem from KW and Ozzie, that is why they are being questioned by many fans, not just J4L.

QUOTE (chisox2334 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:46 PM) Not getting Haren should not turn into a thread about blasting Ozzie and Kenny. Would it be nice to have Haren? Hell ya it would be great. Let me guess blast Kenny and Ozzie for a team going from 9 1/2 out to 1 game up in the divsion. Did you read his post? It's not just about not getting Haren. It's about improving the franchise and team in general, and that maybe KW and Ozzie aren't the best people in charge to do that.

QUOTE (mcgrad70 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:36 PM) Winning division titles mean absolutely nothing. The goal is to get to the Series. You have to win a division title or wildcard to make the Series, and 3 teams will be disappointed in each league playoffs eery year. Yes, the goal is to get to the Series, but the first goal is to get to the playoffs.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:33 PM) GMAB with the postseason record. Like I said, other than 2005, there's nothing to get loud about here. I've mentioned a few times that both Ozzie and KW would get majorly exposed if we didn't have the luxury of playing in what mostly has been a weak division since they've been together. We go into EVERY season with holes and the common consensus is "Wait until the deadline and will upgrade." We wouldn't be able to do that in the AL east. It'd be nice to go INTO a season without holes. Yes, I know this isn't fantasy baseball and you're not going to be loaded at every position. But there were options out there. We dropped the ball just because. It would be nice to have a better farm system to help with the constant few holes we seem to have each year. I think this organization is recognizing that, but the change is coming slowly (only the first few picks in each draft are really being spent on, and even that is debatable). Still, I think one of the biggest problems is that the value of deadline contributors has risen dramatically this season, teams are seeing these difference makers in a new light in terms of value. Even mediocre players are demanding a ton now, and its stopping a lot of teams from being able to acquire them thus far. Haren was in a different situation, as Arizona needed to dump his salary, whereas other teams arent as desperate to dump some of the contracts such as Dunn's, Berkman's, Fielder's, etc, so the price has stayed high.

QUOTE (chisox2334 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:06 PM) glad to see your true w sox fan:) QUOTE (KipWellsFan @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:20 PM) I strongly disagree. Please take note on how to add to a discussion. QUOTE (T R U @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:25 PM) Since Ozzie took over as manager in 04 we have 2 division titles, a World Series Championship, and are currently leading the division as we speak.. 2004: 83-79 - 2nd 2005: 99-63 - Division Champs, World Series Champs 2006: 90-72 - 3rd 2007: 72-90 - 4th 2008: 89-74 - Division Champs 2009: 79-83 - 3rd 2010: 53-44 - Leading Division No one likes Kotsay being a major contributor to this team, but lets just say we win the division this season.. that's 3 division titles and a world series title in 7 seasons.. That also puts Ozzie at 565-505 career record with the Sox.. 12-4 in the postseason.. They don't need to be fired, but a collective agreement between them of the RIGHT moves to make would prolly help out a lot.. KW needs to just man up and do what he thinks is best for the club instead of submitting to Ozzie.. I am not trying to make this personal, but if Soxtalk wants to continue to have insightful discussions then they should see hows its done. Im not saying one liners need to completely disappear, sometimes great comedy will come from them, or one line is all that is needed sometimes to make a point. But, IMO, I have seen way to much of the non-value one liners on Soxtalk, and not enough real discussion going on. Maybe Im wrong, but thats my 2 cents.

QUOTE (chisox2334 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:21 PM) so are alot of teams and fans. We weren't even in the mix for him. Not the point, you're saying that he is less of a Sox fan because he is jealous and mad for losing out on an Ace who is signed reasonably for the next 3 years and the team that got him barely gave up anything. How does that make sense? You wouldn't want Haren while giving up scraps? You don't want the Sox to make moves to get better? Atleast add something valuable to talk about, add some opinion, some facts to back it up, something.

QUOTE (chisox2334 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:18 PM) hes pisst and jealous because angels got Haren. For that package, why shouldnt he be?

QUOTE (chisox2334 @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 08:06 PM) glad to see your true w sox fan:) How does this make him less of a Sox fan? By wanting them to be better?

QUOTE (T R U @ Jul 25, 2010 -> 01:46 PM) Im such a bad person aren't I? I mean geez, who has a signature of a sports team on this board.. sorry if I offended you chw, I sincerely hope blocking this signature has made your posting here a more enjoyable and rewarding experience.. I wouldnt doubt it at all if you put it there just to piss people off on this site.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 24, 2010 -> 10:35 PM) In other words, he's bad. He's the Jim Hendry of the American League. He knows how to build a farm system.

The Tigers will spend as long as attendance holds up and Ilitch has his finances in order. They are 14th in the league in attendance avg just over 30k a game. The problem with them is, they are too willing to give out big contracts to bad/mediocre players (Robertson, Willis, Bonderman, Inge) and over pay on many of those contracts and other ones, such as Pudge a few yrs back, Ordonez, Guillen. Dombrowski is a decent GM, but way to liberal in terms of contracts.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 21, 2010 -> 12:48 PM) Jayson Nix = a half-way decent player when given playing time Fixed

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 21, 2010 -> 11:48 AM) Hard to take any team seriously that's 15 below on the road. I agree. It's coming down to us and the Twins. I would not be surprised at all to see the Tigers make a few moves to stay in the race.

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ Jul 20, 2010 -> 01:21 PM) You should definitely be able to purchase this 2nd hand. Search online for it. Hardest part will be actually replacing the fan. Depending on the make/model it can be a real struggle. I had a friend who had an older HP laptop and the fan was making a bad noise so he opened up his laptop, following directions from an HP site to clean it out. He basically had to disassemble his whole laptop just to get to the fan. If youre not comfortable with computers, I would definitely look up directions online to do it and/or find a friend who knows it more.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 20, 2010 -> 10:46 AM) So the price has dropped to Beckham/Hudson/CQ + Viciedo + more? Wow, they are out of their minds. From, not to. They were asking for GB/DH/CQ type deal (maybe with Viciedo, maybe not), now they are saying Viciedo + works, I do it depending on the + part. If they consider Hudson part of that + part, then no. If its some lwoer guys like Short, then I do it.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jul 18, 2010 -> 12:39 AM) Inception: good. 100% agreed.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Jul 17, 2010 -> 05:38 PM) There were only four known producers on this project... and keaton was not one of them... he did however direct. This very well might be the reason that you felt something was missing from it. Good catch, and yes I mean direct it. QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jul 17, 2010 -> 06:45 PM) Wait. You know Tony Lazzeretti? Yea, grew up on the same block as him, was best friends with him until I moved.

Caught this in the trib yesterday: Tribune article Lazzeretti is one of my childhood best friend's dad, and really just a nice, down to earth guy. I saw "The Merry Gentleman" and it was good, but not great. I felt like it was just missing something to make it great, and I feel like that was because Keaton produced it since Ron became sick with appendicitis during the making of it. I would recommend renting it and checking out this locally made movie. He's also done many other nationally recognized projects such as the anti-teen smoking campaign awhile back, and also the Coors Light football coaches commercials (cant say Im a fan of those though haha). Just thought it was pretty cool to see the Tribune give some recognition to some of the talent in Chicago.