witesoxfan

IIRC, Tawny Kitaen was married to Chuck Finley, and as part of an argument, assaulted him(she like actually beat the s*** out of him). Tawny was also at one time the significant other of the lead singer of Whitesnake(whether it was serious boyfriend-girlfriend, or they were married, I cannot recall). I am a bit shaky on it all, but I do believe it was something to that extent.

Call me crazy here, but I have a weird idea. The Angels just recently got fed up with Ramon Ortiz sucking ass. So, to try to help him figure it out and get his focus back, demoted him to the bullpen. He was awesome there. First of all, say we acquire a starter. I do like the idea of using Diaz in the pen. I think he could put up good numbers out there...better then the numbers Action Jackson is putting up anyways. Secondly, say we acquire a second starter, and a starter in the everyday rotation is not involved. What if we were to hypothetically demote Jon Garland to the bullpen? Personally, I feel this could be a very good move in more then one way, and it could backfire on us. Jon could take it, realize he has to get his s*** together, and he just starts focusing on every pitch, and he rarely makes a mistake, and he becomes a solid arm out of the pen. This is good for us because he can go 2-3 innings at a time for us if we need it. It also could light a fire under Scho's ass that if he doesn't get his ass in gear, he could be demoted to the pen and Garland could be promoted to the rotation. Garland could also be a b**** about it, and suck complete ass, and just lose all focus, and become a huge problem for us. I see that very unlikely. I hope that, assuming it would not cost a ton, management would atleast consider the idea I just proposed above. Try to keep Diaz at all costs, and then get another starter and demote Jon. It gives us 2 more good arms to go along with the 2 we already have down there, and if Politte can keep his head out of his ass, we could actually have a solid ass bullpen and could be a LOOGY away from having a dominant pen. Another thing...maybe it's just me in saying this, but, if Action Jackson is so good for the clubhouse, maybe we could just ask him to retire and become a coach for us(some coach that actually is just paid to sit on his ass and encourage the team). He usually does more harm then good, and is at the point in his career where retirement could and very well should be an option. We give him his unconditional release, put him through waivers(and I have no doubt he'd clear...I don't think anyone needs an arm in the pen THAT badly) and he'd resume his duties as a "coach."

I do agree with you. That's why I think we put Jones in CF, and put Rowand in RF. I just don't know where we put him in the lineup. Maybe... Harris - 2B Jones - CF Thomas - DH Lee - LF Valentin - SS Konerko - 1B Rowand - RF Crede - 3B Olivo - C With Uribe subbing in for Harris, Valentin, and Crede 3-5 times a week...when he's hot, get him in the lineup, be it by putting him in at 2B, 3B, SS, or even sitting Paulie, putting Frank in the field, and putting Uribe at DH. Something should be done in those cases. The depth that would provide us would be very nice to have. Part of me wants Steve Finley for CF...but if that can't happen, I wouldn't mind this move...so long as Russ Ortiz is not the only SP we acquire to help us in our drive for the playoffs.

Now they have to do it when he steps up to the plate. You know, like how they played Whitesnake when Chuck Finley pitched against us.

I can see where the Cards would have a need for another starter(like a very good starter), but who goes out of the rotation then? Marquis has been solid, you can't take Morris out, Carpenter and Suppan have been two of their best starters all year...I think that means Williams is gone, doesn't it? Anyway...if the Cards get another starter, and they add some depth to that pen, they could be a very dangerous team down the stretch. If they get those two additions, they could be the favorites, even ahead of the Cubs. I still think the Cubs win the division...but the Cards could most definately make it very interesting. Now that I said everything Critic just said, only in more words, we can move on.

I try my best.

That's the thing. Maggs IS better then Jones. Defensively, he is not. Offensively, Jones is not as good(as pointed out by Maggs career average compared to Jones's career best average in a single season, and their career OPS, along with their numbers from this year). It's more or less something very good and something mediocre for two good things. Like trading Madden 2004 and Triple Play 1998 for Madden 2002 and MVP 2003.

No, this win was HUGE. We lose, we are looking at a potential sweep by the Cubbies IN OUR HOUSE. That sends us into a funk heading into the Minnesota series, where we could seriously have gotten f***ed in the ass(and we still could, nothing is over yet), and that would put us atleast 5-6 games back, and we are still trying to find ourselves when we head to Wrigley, where we would almost undoubtedly be f***ed in the ass again while Minnesota gets Arizona. It all snowballs from there and, had we not gotten this win today, it could have looked like the end of the world two weeks from now...we could easily be 7-10 games out. This win was big in more then one aspect. I'm just happy as hell we got it. We continue from here. This win will not be the biggest win of the year at the end of the year...but it will be looked at as a huge win nonetheless.

Do you know how cool it would be to have your last name as "Parque", pronounced like "Parkay" the butter? I know I'm not the only one who has ever thought of this.

Maggs in CF would be interesting. It's just too bad Drew would move to CF.

We can take on Maggs's contract. I just think management has realized that paying Maggs $14 mill a year would be a waste of money. He's a hell of a hitter, but for a guy who has never hit 40 homers, has never had an average above .330, has never driven in 140 runs, has never had an OPS of over 1.000, has never been considered one of the best defensive RFers in the game, has never been considered to have a rocket on his arm, $14 mill a year is too much. Jones, on the other hand, makes $12.5 mill a year(which is quite obviously less then Maggs), and IS considered one of the best defensive CFers in the game, along with being clutch and having postseason experience(tons of it at that). The reason the Braves would make it is because Maggs is a better hitter then Jones. Maggs has a career average of .307...that career average of Maggs is better then Andruw Jones best average IN ONE SEASON(.303 in 2000). He hits for about the same amount of power(30-35 homers a year), drives in around the same amount of runs, and has a much higher career OPS too. That's not the only reason they make the deal. The fact that Maggs is hitting .311 with an OPS of .891 and 8 homers(while missing 3-4 weeks already) is much more pleasant to see then Jones's .243 average along with an OPS of .812 with 12 homers(in 28 more games). The Braves feel they can turn damn near any pitcher into a good one. They take a "risk" on Jon Rauch, to get that extra boost offensively. We get Andruw Jones to help us defensively, along with Ortiz helping us pitching wise. I don't think it gets done. But it's interesting to think about nonetheless.

Which is why they are trying to improve their team. They obviously feel that what they are missing right now is a big offensive bat(they're missing about 2 or 3 IMO). Andruw Jones is not getting it done right now. They probably figure they can work some magic with Jon Rauch/whomever we give them, and they have their offensive problems figured out. Meanwhile, we make the deal because Ortiz is a solid pitcher and he eats innings, while Jones is awesome defensively in CF and will get back on track here in Chicago. Do not count me in as one who thinks it will happen. But I do think it is more then a rumor. I just think there is too much money being thrown around in the deal for the teams to agree on some sort of package. It is a fact that Atlanta has scouts in Chicago for this series, and it is a fact that we have scouts in Baltimore for that series, seeing what we can find about these players. There is definately some mutual interest between two teams who are currently on the bubble and think that perhaps one move can push both of them over the top(quite frankly, one does not care if the other is pushed over the top by the move; they just both feel that the move they make pushes them over the top). Do, however, count me in as one who thinks a move will be done between these two teams. I am not sure what it will consist of, and I don't know when it will happen. I just do think something will happen. I'd like it to not involve Jon Rauch, but I have a hunch it will. With both Scho and Esteban being FA's after the season, I'd like more then Felix Diaz in the minors waiting to be given a starter's role. I'd prefer we have Rauch as well. No moves can be made without Rauch or Diaz being apart of the package, so I will not get my wish.

Loaiza needs to have a big game tomorrow. Period.

Good speed aboard!

I like Diaz a lot. I think he's gonna be a solid pitcher someday.

He and Carlos Silva are similar pitchers. They both have insane fastballs that just drop. When they make a mistake, you hit it. You get a fast baserunner on base, you get in his head. When those two get in a rhythm, you can forget about it. I assume he's made two big mistakes today, and we capitilized on them. That's good. Those 5 runs may be all he gives up, and those 5 runs may be all we will get.

You just realized that? I thought it was a well known fact that Zambrano has some of the nastiest stuff in the majors.

Isn't Moyer still pitching well?

I really don't wanna give up Sweeney. He seems like he could be an absolute stud someday.

Just plain Billy

That's fine if that's how you feel about Carlos. I think Rowand could put up .300 20 70 .750 over a full season...probably not as good as Carlos...but at 1/6th of the price. That's why I make the move. Not that I don't like Carlos, but that I really like Rowand.

Good to see I'm not the only one. I'm not sure Rowand is a 30-100 guy, but I'm sure he can hit .300, and he can have an OPS of .750-.800(and possibly even .850) over a full season. He has good range in CF, let alone LF/RF, and he has a very strong arm. For under $1 mill compared to Carlos's $6 mill this year and $9 mill next year? Bring on Ortiz!

See that's the thing...we really can't afford Carlos. He's making $9 mill next year, and for $9 mill, you have to put up .280 30 100 .850-.900 at the very least to be worth it, and for a smaller payroll team like ours, we really need more. If we could trade both Konerko and Lee, I would do it. However, the fact remains that Konerko has shown more power this year then Lee has, and that Konerko has been the better hitter. And CLee is easily replaceable. We can put Rowand in LF, Harris in CF, and Maggs in RF with Gload backing up LF and RF and Perez backing up CF. We can put Harris in LF, Rowand in CF, and Maggs in RF, with the Gload-Perez thing working the same again. We can trade for Steve Finley, and be Rowand-Finley-Maggs from left to right with Gload doing the same and Harris doing Perez's job(among other things...probably play some 2B, play a little LF and maybe even a little 3B and SS now and then too). There are numerous possibilities. Trading CLee is not the end of everything...in fact, it almost makes more sense trading Lee then it does Konerko(makes more next year, plus, we have replacements for LF...we really do not for 1B)

How can you not have a better draft and only get an A-? Isn't not being able to do better an A?

Go for it