witesoxfan

New? Jordan, weren't you on last year, only with 2003 instead of 04? I'm sure one of the mods can add your post totals from your 03 name onto your 04 name, or some crazy magic s*** like that. Talk to an admin/mod....or both.

Gotcha back

Those too....but I think a better manager gets through that somehow unscathed. I just think of the Sosa situation on the NorthSide....he had a down year(though not a bad one), and was out for a little bit of time due to an injury early on and CorkGate....Dusty somehow pulled something out of his ass and they actually won quite a bit when he was out with his injury. JMHO

Winning cures everything....or so they say.

Sorry....couldn't let that one get away. Also, regarding Paulie and his OPS, the only thing I will say is that I said pure hitter....I chose my words carefully there. Paulie is not a pure hitter....in fact, I would go as far as to say the White Sox do not have a pure hitter, and that is something they could use. Just a guy who hits .300 with maybe 10-15 homers who can get on base. Paulie(along with Lee, Thomas, Maggs, Valentin, and maybe even Crede, though I wouldn't count him) are all power hitters and really nothing else. DM will not beat you deep too often, he'll usually just get quite a few doubles, and that's all the power he will show.

It shows in his stats. He hit something like .320 with an at-bat per homer ratio of something between 10 and 15(for this year is was 11.375, so I'll round up to 12) with an OPS of like 1.100. In other words, over a full year, if he had 500 at bats, he would hit about .320 with about 35-50 homers and an OPS of 1.000....those aren't the numbers exactly, but it is something like that. Meanwhile, as a DH, he hits .250 with an ab/hr ratio of slightly less, but not significantly(this year, it was about 13.3235, so I'll round up to 14....as you can tell, he hits a homer more often playing 1B then DHing, but an OPS of about 200 points less with more K's. Meaning if he played 1B a whole year, his numbers would be something like this(500 ab's): .320 42 140 110 BB's 100 K's .450 OBP .650 SLG% 1.100 OPS As a DH: .250 36 110 85 BB's 115 K's .365 OBP .550 SLG% .915 OPS As you can tell, there is actually a significant difference to him DHing and playing 1B. Therefore, we are under the assumption that he prefers to play 1B(along with the fact that I do believe he has stated that he likes playing the field, though not everyday) That ab/hr ratio of 11.375 is not his wackiest though. Against lefties, Thomas's ab/hr ratio is roughly 8.7645....or in other words, if he had 500 at bats against lefties in a year, he'd hit 57 homers. He gets the 546 he got in 03, he hits 62 homers. Isn't number crunching fun? BTW, on his splits for 1B projected and DH projected....I just made up the RBI totals, walk totals, and K totals....I reasoned them out and didn't just put bulls*** up there, but they are not statistically figured out by any means. His OBP, SLG%, and OPS are a little closer to the truth, but also not exact and could be off. Pay more attention to the average and RBI. Another thing, Thomas actually hit .350 as a 1Bman in limited time....I figured that his average would come down a little, but that's not guaranteed....when he was playing 1B full time in the mid 90s, he was hitting in the high .340s-low .350s....maybe it wouldn't fall. I am not sure.

Is it really? I thought everything was like Major League 2 where you could kick the s*** out of each other and come back and win the division. Hell yeah I do. I'm sure Albert Belle said a naughty thing or two about the White Sox when he was on the Indians. Next thing you know he's making naughty signs with his arms to the Cleveland fans as a member of the White Sox. Mientkiewicz wouldn't come in and be like "You guys are all pieces of s***, Chicago sucks ass, I hate this town, blah, blah, blah." If he came here, it would be via free agency, and that would mean he would have to want to play in Chicago, and then if he did sign, don't you think he would maybe downplay the comments he made about Chicago and their fans? His teammates wouldn't give a s*** about what he said in the past, because the past is something that can't be changed. Kevin Millar went behind Nomar's back and said he wanted Arod to be the Red Sox SS next year, how the hell is that going to work out? I would bet that after either a punch or two is thrown or after an adult discussion, it would be over. They're professionals, and they get paid to do this. Same thing has happened here too. Ozzie called out Frank....how's our team chemistry doing, huh? I thought that's why we hired Ozzie...? How do I think the Twins won the division two straight years? Well, for starters, they had a kick ass bullpen both years, and I think they'll have another this year. They also had a good, well-balanced team, and they had, IMO, the best defense in the league in both range and gloves, bar none. If we had Torii Hunter in CF instead of Carl Everett(or in other words, you switch those two), I can almost guarantee you we win the division. And their INFers, while good, are somewhat overrated mainly because of that brick wall they have at 1B who is the topic of discussion right now, named Doug Mientkiewicz. Again, I think that if you switch Dougie M and Kong, we win the division with ease. Not only is Mientkiewicz a much better pure hitter then Kong, he is also a top 3 defensive 1Bman in the MLB(and I personally think he is the best, but there are some arguments that can be made for guys like Olerud and the like) I disagree. The Sox looked out for each other, played as a team, and had each others back(...which is different from looking out for each other in what way?). How come the Sox weren't pouring champagne over each other at the end of September last year? Tell me something....do you honestly think that the White Sox did not play as a team? I don't think they were too concerned about individual stats(except Thomas) with the main exception of the stat on the left in the standings column(also referred to as the win column). What I thought they displayed at the end of last year was selfishness....they all wanted to hit the 5-run homer, which is impossible....that was the ONLY time I thought they tried to do too much. Also, forgetting the White Sox, don't you think the Royals played like a team? the Indians? Mariners? Angels? Blue Jays? Phillies? Cardinals? Astros? My point is, the Twins didn't get in because they played with teamwork, because if you got in by doing that, we'd have about 28-30 teams in the playoffs each year. They got in because they actually played up to their potential...no overacheiving, no underacheiving, just playing to their porential. The White Sox play to their potential, they win 103 games and sweep through the playoffs and destroy Josh Beckett and the Florida Marlins in the World Series. Plain and simply, we lost this past year because we had a s***ty manager who apparently knew nothing about teaching fundamentals and couldn't manage a bullpen to save his life. The Twins had a manager in Ron Gardenhire who was the exact opposite of Jerry Manuel.

I wouldn't rule out Maggs to the Orioles either....IMO, it's gotta be just as likely as Anaheim/LA. I would take a Maggs for Gibbons, Matos, and Julio deal in a second....hell, I'd even add a prospect or two. Then give Konerko to LA for peanuts(or maybe Konerko for Hundley and Jackson/Miller/Hanrahan....Hundley's s***, but he'd be gone after this year anyways, and then we have a stud pitcher in the minors....use Hundley sparingly....backup 1Bman and 3rd catcher along with a LH bat off the bench. Also gets rid of Gload's spot, but what can you do). Saves us mucho money in the end, gets Baltimore their stud OFer, gives us a solid 1Bman in Gibbons and a LH power hitter, a hell of a CFer in Matos, and a good reliever in Julio. This isn't saying that we could also maybe get Hairston/Roberts as well. I don't know if Baltimore makes this move, but the White Sox would in a second(or atleast I hope they would)

So you hate Oprah(and apparently the Grateful Dead) for the same reasons many of us hate the Cubs? Because your feelings of dislike towards those people is the same feeling I get when I think about the Cubs.

Yeah, I did too.

I have to read Shakespeare's Tragedy of Julius Caesar for English. I doth give two thumbs down of it(am I the next Shakespeare or what? ) Anyways, right now, I am reading no books for pleasure. I have to get out to Barnes and Noble again and see what they hell they have for me to read out there. I need a suggestion....so you just say some and give a little description and I'll probably check it out. Unless that is, if you don't want to.

I think he's leaving that one to you

Dallas Perez? Never heard of him. I've heard of Dallas Green though. Manager of the 1980 Phillies that won a World Series. Oh Dallas Perez? You mean Dallas Williams, a career .079(3-for-38) in 20 games, 2 with Baltimore in 1981 and 18 with Cincinatti in 1983. Or do you quite possibly mean Odalis Perez?

I don't give a s*** what he said about White Sox fans, if he put on the White Sox uniform and played 100%, you would be happy with what you got. Mientkiewicz, IMO, is probably their best hitter, because he can hit and draw walks. He is a Mark Grace type of ball player. Mark Grace, in his prime, was awesome. I would take Mientkiewicz in a second. Oh yeah, I'd take Santana too. Both are winners and are money(as in clutch) ball players.

We're going to trade Ozzie Guillen and prospects for a real manager. To seriously answer your question....no, there are no new trade rumors. It's February. There won't be trade rumors until probably June or July, so you can twiddle your thumbs and wait.

First of all, the contract Koch signed was 2-years at about $10 mill(it was actually a little more then $10 mill...something around $10.125 mill or somewhere around that neighborhood) Second of all, Jose's option was not picked up because of defensive relevance. The guy makes 20 errors a year. The only way a SS's defense is worth $5 mill is if either he is getting $25 mill a year and you are only paying him $20 mill a year to hit, or he is an unbelievably gifted defensive SS with some offensive presence to go with. Jose is neither, therefore, you base his payroll on his all-around game, and his all-around game is not worth $5 mill.

Oh and BTW, I don't think I'm going to be watching much of the All-Star game anyways. Maybe the dunk contest and the rookie game

"Being selected to the All-Star team, it wouldn't be nothing new to me" GO TO COLLEGE SON

Is it that they are the second best QB in the draft that included a Manning? Or is a top QB in a draft where San Diego has a top 2 pick? Is it because both of their colleges main colors where red and white(with a little black in Miami of Ohio's).....OK, that one is a reach. I do agree though, they both do seem alike for some reason. I wouldn't count on Roethlisberger becoming the next Leaf though.

I don't see what the big deal is about Harris smoking. So maybe he retires a year or two early. So maybe his life ends 10-20 years before it should have. That's HIS choice. It's not affecting his game an incredible amount at this time(something tells me that even if he didn't smoke he still would suck and that even if he were good, smoking would not affect him too much).

There is a point he brings up, something along the lines of "The Sox aren't cheap, in fact, they have the highest payroll in their division." While that is true, it is sort of a twisted truth. Sure we do, but that's only like $60 mill, while the average payroll in the AL East is about $80-$90 mill(which is kind of a misleading figure), and their 4th highest, the Blue Jays, has got to be like $55-65 mill, if not more(because I know they have Delgado on for about $18 mill and they'll have Halladay on for about $8-9 mill this year as well). The AL West has 3 teams at over $85 mill and then the exception is the A's, who have a great front office and 3 great, young starters in their first 6 years in the league. I would venture to guess that the White Sox have about the average payroll, though that is not saying much. However, I personally don't want JR to open up the checkbook. I think what he needs to do is spend that $60 million more wisely....don't give Konerko $8 mill a year when he deserves maybe $5-6 after the year he had(and that year where he hit .304 27 104, including about .330 20 60 at the All-Star break). Don't give Koch $10 mill after he has not even thrown one pitch in a White Sox uniform(in fact, don't even make that move at all....Foulke is off the books quicker then anyways). Don't pick up Jose's $5 mill option after he hits .240 25 70, because if you hit .240, you have to hit 35-40 homers that same year to earn $5 mill the next year. I personally have nothing against backloaded contracts, so long as you plan them correctly that someone's biggest pay check will come in a year where there are other low paychecks being sent. Hell, sometimes backloaded deals are the best way to go, and then if you can, trade them at the end of it(like how I think we should have traded Maggs this past offseason). Anyways, rant off. It is a decent article though, especially for a basketball writer. Atleast Smith won't contradict himself like Mariotti's dumbass will.

Why would Borchard NOT be ranked high? He's 25 or 26 years old....a little old....but it does not mean that he has fully developed yet. The guy has a ton of raw potential, and just because of that, you have to consider him a very good prospect. If he ever gets it straightened out, he'll be one of the more dangerous LH power hitters in the game. The guy's got LTP, but LTP can only get you so far.

This is what I was going to say, but you got to it first and said it better. Sure the Cubs lost Lofton and Simon, but replaced them with Derrek Lee and will get Corey Patterson back. That is atleast a wash if not an improvement for the Cubs. Their s***ty bullpen has been strengthened quite a bit by just the one move. Also, I do not see Sosa having another crappy year. The Cubs rotation will once again be a big strength for them, and I expect Clement to rebound and have a good year, with Zambrano being the one who maybe regresses a little. While Houston's rotation has gotten better, their bullpen took a huge hit. Sure they added Pettitte and Clemens, but they lost Billy Wagner. That is something you can't replace. That would be comparable to us losing Marte, who is the best lefty in the game not named Wagner. Also, what one of the articles doesn't mention when referring to the Cubs 27-17 record in 1-run games is that the Cubs had the best team suited to do that kind of thing. Winning 1-run games is not a matter of luck. Their team is built to win those types of games, and the Twins is as well. The White Sox are not built that way, the Astros are not built that way, and the Cardinals are not built that way. You CANNOT depend on the home run to win close games, and that is something the White Sox, Astros, and Cardinals did last year....and something the Twins and Cubs did not. Do you notice which two teams made the playoffs out of those 5 teams?

Oakland will pick Fitzgerald and Arizona will select Roethlisberger.

Best one I've ever seen. No seriously, it is.