witesoxfan

The team's power has not gone done a ton. They will still hit 200 homers Oh yeah..the experts pick KC last year too, and we saw how that turned out

Benson actually put together a half decent season. 12-12 4.31 ERA 1.31 WHIP, K/9 of about 6, K/BB of just over 2. The fact that he pitched in the NL has to be taken in, so a jump in ERA would be expected. He is not a $7 mill pitcher...but then again, Contreras isn't a $6 mill pitcher. If I had the choice between taking Benson or Contreras...I'd probably choose the noose. Most of the money Lowe got was because he had an excellent postseason, and because he has the best agent in professional sports in Scott Boras.

Paul Byrd got a 1-year, $5 mill deal from Anaheim. Byrd > Contreras

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 09:12 PM) Qwerty, I don't see why you're so confident in Sauerbeck... He's had two really good seasons, two alright seasons, and two really bad seasons. It's really a coinflip as to whether or not he's effective this year, IMHO... He won't necessarily be great, but he should, at the very least, be solid for Cleveland this year as a LOOGY. He is one of about 15(or so it seems) Indians players that is a low-risk, high-reward type player. Boone, Rhodes, Juan Gone(hate you qwerty ), Sauerbeck, Shuey...and if you count last year too, you can also include Belliard, Howry, and probably others too. If he's a bum...they release him. If he's solid, they have a steal. Those are great situations to put your team in. An example of a very poor situation to put your team is to look at trading for Jose Contreras...he is our #4/#5 starter for $6 mill...if he doesn't put up respectable numbers, that quickly becomes a terrible move for the Sox.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 06:26 PM) I don't wanna hear about the ALC being the easiest division in baseball -- Houston lost Kent and Beltran Cubbies lost Alou, Clement, and Sosa Cinci's big signing was Eric Milton. Eric f***ing Milton for crying out loud Brewers had a good offseason, but are still a year away, and have no BP. Pittsburgh is gonna have Josh fogg in the rotation again. Josh F'n Fogg. St. Loius went out and got Mark Mulder to the weakest part of their team, which won over 100 games last year feasting on the underbelly of cupcakes in this "toughest division in baseball" In addition to Houston losing those two to FA, they also are going to be without Berkman for a month or two as well, due to his torn ACL. Meanwhile, the AL Central has 3 legitamate contenders, and Detroit seems to be on the rise. ALC > NLC

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 06:23 PM) I can agree with that, but I still don't agree with you or qwerty that Cleveland will have a better bullpen. A lot more "if's", if Shuey returns to form, if Rhodes returns to form, if Wickman doesn't fall apart. And Juggernaut, I'm sorry, but you're crazy and dead wrong if you think Shingo is better/will have a better year than Nathan... Shuey may not make the team...I don't think he will. Rhodes, I think, if he bounces back to his 03 form will be a good pitcher for Cleveland out of the pen, and if he reverts to 01 or 02 form, he is a steal for an average outfielder in Lawton. Wickman is a decent pitcher, but even if he does fall apart, they do have the depth to replace him. Fernando Cabrera and Tadano could both replace him in the pen and put up solid numbers. I think our pen will be better then qwerty thinks it will be...but I also do think that Cleveland's pen will be better than ours.

Of course I'd boo him. He's still a POS The Cubs were the ones who traded him though, and they screwed themselves. And I quite frankly do not see how they improved by trading Sosa. Hairston is a good player, and I wouldn't mind having him on the Sox...but, to me, for the same price, I'd rather have Samme over both Hairston and Burnitz(plus the prospects too I suppose)

One thing that should be noted somewhat. Shingo did have a 1.30 WHIP in Japan in 03 IIRC...he seems to be the type of pitcher that is easier to hit the more you see him. I don't expect him to be nearly as dominant this year.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 06:10 PM) My goodness! When Cory McPherin asks him about the situation on the last day of the year, where he left early, he said that "It was meant to happen, and he believes in the future." So does that mean that after that Washington game, Moss could have said it was meant to happen, and gotten away with it?

QUOTE(Brian @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 06:04 PM) They could do a cover of the Pearl Jam song now... "Jeromey struck out agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain todaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Haha, thats the song I'm listening to right now

STAT OF THE NIGHT Jeromy Burnitz splits... home - .322 24 68 1.057 away - .244 13 42 .775 Have fun with that Cubbies.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 05:48 PM) You expect them to move one of the starters in the off-season? Garland and/or Contreras could very easily be dealt, and there is some type of option with Duque...can't remember if it is team or player. Yes, I do think they'll move a starter in the offseason.

FWIW...I do believe the Sox will carry 12 pitchers to atleast start the year, and it could remain that way all year. I also don't think Cotts makes the team out of ST. I think he will pitch in AAA this year to stretch out his arm, and I think they intend on having him start in 06.

QUOTE(YoungstownIndians @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 04:19 PM) I agree with these rankings.... But The Tribe could be #1! 230 to -35 sit down

QUOTE(qwerty @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 05:30 PM) Bartosh will not even make their pen next year because it is so deep with very solid relievers. They also have shuey. No way our bullpen is better. We have marte, shingo, and maybe hermanson who we can rely on. They have several guys who can go out there and you don't have a heart attack with. Politte will be solid, and should be counted on most of the time...though I have no doubt he will undoubtedly go through a spell like he seems to do quite often where he is very bad. And I do have some faith in Vizcaino. I think he will be quite solid for us too. Adkins should be better this year too, with a year of experience under his belt.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Jan 31, 2005 -> 06:23 PM) Moss dominated them and they can't handle it. What a bunch of jackoffs. On a bum ankle no less.

204 votes for the White Sox in 167 total votes. Yep. That's a true Chicago election for ya

Frank was a tight end at Auburn. Usually, if you are a tight end in a major conference, you are going to be atleast 240 or 250 pounds. Now add 15+ years of working out and just getting older to that, and you can gain another 20-25 pounds easily. Not a chance Frank ever used steroids in my mind.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 01:22 AM) Evene if he is healthy for half a season he will earn his pay check. If it's half a season like 2003...yes(.294 24 70 .901 in 82 games) If it's half a season like 2002...no(.282 8 35 .776 in 70 games) If it's anything like he was in 2004...no(do I need to put his numbers up?)

LOL...that is all true. I guess I just saw him play a little in KC last year and he seemed done.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Feb 2, 2005 -> 01:05 AM) Am i honestly the only one that would take a combination of wickman, howry, riske, bentancourt, miller, rhodes, shuey, sauerbeck over our pen? Having looked it over... No

If Rowand puts up .310 24 69 .905 or if Uribe puts up .283 23 74 .833 again, I would be more then a little surprised. I expect some falloff from both, so I guess some fall off from the Indians offense wouldn't surprise me either. Then again, can I really expect 4 or 5 guys from the Indians offense to just fall off? I don't know. Maybe a couple, but I am not sure if I can expect half of them. Also...FWIW...I don't like the Juan-Gone signing. Why didn't they just hang onto Escobar or get someone else young who could have a chance instead of going for a guy whose best years are in the rear view mirror?

Indians lineup, to me, does look better then the Sox lineup. There is really no point in arguing that. The Sox starting rotation is better then the Indians. I would take Buehrle, Garcia, Duque, Contreras, Garland over Sabathia, Westbrook, Lee, Millwood, and whoever the 5th starter will end up being. That is the main advantage. Bullpens are basically a wash. The Indians I think are more dangerous then most people think. They could be a 90+ win team next year...along with a potential sub-.500 team too Not saying what this guy did...YoungstownIndian...coming onto an exclusively White Sox message board is right...just saying he's not wrong in what he's saying(though at the same time he is...go figure )

Maggs isn't kicking himself at all. Rumors already have him getting $11 mill over 5 years ON a bum knee. Had he stayed healthy, put up a .300 30 100 .900 season, he would be looking at $14-15 mill a year, and if he had put up a .320 35 120 .950 season, he would be looking at $16-17 mill a year. Boras is an asshole...but he gets the job done.

QUOTE(AirScott @ Feb 1, 2005 -> 02:52 PM) it's not like he lost us the division last year...injuries and the lack of a 5th starter did us in. Williams would have a near perfect track record if not for trading Foulke. For starters...blame could be put on KW for not bringing in a 5th starter for us. Secondly..while I am generally happy with KW's performance as GM...he botched up the David Wells trade(one would wonder why he did his ace from the prior year for another 'ace'...if he knew he was healthy, he would have found a different package of guys). Secondly, I would argue that his Foulke for Koch trade was not his worst...I would argue that his trade for Ritchie was the worst. Fogg has been a mediocre pitcher for Pittsburgh for 2 or 3 years now(far better then what Ritchie produced for us in 1 year), Wells was very solid in 2002, though I believe he has struggled a bit the past two, and Lowe seemed to be a sometimes reliable pitcher out of the pen for us. That trade really hurt. He also traded a young pitcher in Aaron Myette for Royce Clayton, a $4.5 mill bench player for Texas...that trade didn't work out too well for us either. Given, Myette has done nothing in his career in the majors(except start on two consecutive days with Texas or Cleveland, IIRC), but he was a good looking young prospect at the time, and it really was a bad trade. He has messed up here and there, but overall, he has done a very good job. At times, it has been underachieving that has lost us games(like having a 1-2-3 of Loaiza-Buehrle-Colon, or whichever order you prefer...and only winning 86 games with a dynamite offense), or injuries as well(2001 and 2004). All we can do is hope this year is different.